MLAs grill minister on child and family services audit

Several MLAs had harsh criticism for the minister of health and social services in the NWT legislature following the release of a damning report on the territory’s child and family services.

The auditor general’s report, published on Thursday, found many issues identified in previous audits in 2014 and 2018 remain unresolved. It highlighted “serious shortcomings” in child protection, including slow responses to reports of suspected child abuse or neglect and failure to meet minimum contact requirements with children and their families, among other concerns.

Dehcho MLA Sheryl Yakeleya said in the legislature on Friday that the report “cut deep” due to the history of residential school as the majority of children in care are Indigenous.

“Once government steps into the life of a child, there can be no excuse for that child being left vulnerable,” she said.

“I need to know this time will be different, not just as a member of this house but as a mother. Our children deserve to be protected in practice, not only in policy.”

‘A heated, heated issue’

Yellowknife MLAs Kieron Testart and Robert Hawkins criticized Lesa Semmler’s handling of child and family services since she became the health and social services minister. They said when she had been a regular MLA in the last Legislative Assembly, she was “a fierce champion for youth” and critic of the department.

“She inherited a house on fire, but after years in charge, she is now politically and legally accountable for the fact that the system is still burning down with our most vulnerable children inside the house,” Testart said.

Hawkins said he “admired the work” Semmler did as a regular MLA, but accused her of doing “nothing” to address issues now that she was a minister.

The remarks prompted chastisement from Speaker Shane Thompson who reminded MLAs that the rules of the legislature do not allow MLAs to make allegations against another member, impute false or hidden motives, or use abusive or insulting language.

“This is a heated, heated issue and I understand the passion of it but we need to be respectful in this house,” Thompson said.

Before the report was tabled on Thursday, Shauna Morgan, the MLA for Yellowknife North, reiterated calls for an independent child and youth advocate in the NWT saying the territory “desperately need[s] someone to take on that role.”

“We need to stop seeing children in care as a thing that we just need to better administrate, and better support children in taking back some control over their own lives,” she said.

Improvements underway, minister says

In her opening statement in the legislature on Friday, Semmler said the audit recognizes some progress has been made in recent years, but also “makes clear that there are still real challenges that need to be addressed, particularly around consistency, accountability, and capacity within the system.”

Semmler said the NWT government accepts the audit’s findings and recommendations. She said work is already underway to improve the child and family services system and findings from the audit will guide updates to that work.

“Our commitment is to strengthen the child and family services system so it better protects children, works more consistently, and respects the cultures and identities of the families it serves,” she said.

“At the centre of this work is a simple but profound responsibility: to make sure children and youth in the Northwest Territories are safe, supported, and able to grow up connected to who they are and where they come from.”

Semmler pointed to the use of voluntary service agreements to help families “before a crisis point is reached” so they can stay together. She said that has allowed 75 percent of children in the system to remain at home with the support of family preservation workers, something she said she was “proud” of and wants to continue.

The auditor general’s report called on the Department of Health and Social Services and the NWT’s three health and social services authorities to:

• track and analyze compliance with key requirements to make improvements;
• implement clear standards and procedures to ensure equitable distribution of financial support to foster parents;
• establish standards and procedures for the care of children living in a group setting; and
• regularly assess the financial and human resources required to deliver child and family services.

Semmler told Yakeleya work to track and analyze compliance will be finalized in June and her department plans to implement a foster care support standard by September 2026. She said a standard for children living in group settings is expected to be completed by March 2027, and by October 2026, the department will complete a jurisdictional scan to inform its approach to workload measurement alongside a staff survey.

Semmer said the department is working to increase the number of Indigenous foster parents and recruit social workers to fill vacant positions, and plans to retrain staff on the requirements to inform Indigenous government bodies about decisions regarding children.

MLA asks minister to resign

Testart was not satisfied with Semmler’s response and twice asked if she would resign as minister.

“The minister has stood on the floor of this house in a different role and called incremental toothless solutions lip service,” he said.

“I’m calling these solutions that today, and if she’s not willing to take real action to provide real solutions, will she resign?”

Semmler said she would not resign and that she understands the system is struggling and more support is needed.

“We need more families, We need our communities like we used to do to raise a child,” she said.

“We’re so divided. Every community I’ve talked to leaders, I’ve talked to community members, I’ve talked to MLAs. Our own leaders in our communities are so divided, they’re so polarized. And who’s at the end of this? Children, families that are struggling. So this is why we need to all be working together and I take my oath seriously to all of the children and families in the Northwest Territories.”