MKO Grand Chief Garrison Settee is speaking out against the province’s Supported Guardianship Program.

The program was announced by Manitoba Families Minister Rochelle Squires earlier this month.

Settee expressed concern and said that the same policy that has devastated First Nation communities nationwide through the sixties scoop and the residential schools continues with this program.

He says the provincial government is giving the General Authority the red light to bypass their adoption act through this guardianship process. This means they do not have to notify First Nation leaderships about their members being adopted out. Settee says quote - “this practice is unacceptable to our First Nations.”

The Supported Guardianship Program is for children who are permanent wards or in cases where a Child and Family Services agency intends to seek a permanent order. Supported guardianship will have to be approved by the child’s culturally appropriate authority, according to Squires.