nal ane gerd Bad ', interesting,” 4 4 ative court Two workers assist aboriginal people through the court system ‘by MARGARET SPEIRS ‘THE AREA’ S. native - court worker carries a large case. load with positive results. Frances | Stanley, works out of. the’ Terrace courthouse, assists aborigi- nal people of all ages with legal advice in Terrace, Kiti- =“ uemat; New. Aiyansh, Dease ! Lake and Stewart: “Our mandate is aborigi- nal people in .conflict with the law,” she says. She provides information and advice concerning rights and responsibilities to the law, she says. “We don’t tum anyone away,” she adds. Stanley has been working at the job for 13 years and says the position has been around for about 35 years now. She was always interest- ed in law and was finishing © a two-year course in aborigi- nal leadership when the job became available and she took an interest in it. “The job has always been she says. “I think probably the most in- steresting part is the people and their specific issues.” _ Although she didn’t have the statistics in front of her, Stanley believes she’s as- _ sisted thousands of people over the years. © The numbers are usually steady from year to year and repeat offenders make. up about 60 per cent of her cli- . - entele, she says. _The main reason why people enter the court’ sys- _ tem has to do with alcohol, she believes, but overall native people come to the ‘ court system for a variety of reasons including spousal assault, theft, fraud and driv- ing prohibitions. For serious offences such: as sexual abuse, Stanley encourages clients to seek | legal aid assistance so they can have the help of a law- yer in the courtroom. When necessary, she re- fers clients to. community agencies such as alcohol and drug counselling or family _ assistance. - “We do have some peo- ple who are in and out of the ' court system for years and years,” she says. “It’s not just because of alcohol or drugs, it’s usually other things linked to that. It all depends on the situa- tion.” She makes reports ‘with respect to sentencing that provides a person’s back- ground with regard to tradi- tions and cultural wellness. who - _ alternatively,” adding that the:number’ of ’- youths: in ‘the*formal justice'"| Coy be dsp bee? ‘The report i is presented to the judge along with alter- natives for sentencing other than jail. Restorative justice: plays. a role in her job. “In dealing with youth, we try to. convince the - Crown to deal with charges she says, system has become fewer over the years. Restorative: justice isn’t only for youth: usually an ~ adult will come in on a first offence or first time in the court system and she will try to deal with the person alter- natively, she says. Healing circles some- . times play a part in a proba- tion order in some commu- nities, she says. . “Anything that we can ‘encourage people to do in- dependently is always help- - ' ful with réspect to healing and staying out of the judi- cial system,” she says. Healing circles can dif- fer depending on what the - person needs such as resi- dential school healing, fam- . ily violence, alcohol or drug’ abuse. The court system has changed over the years. “Anybody will tell you judi- cial changes will move very: slowly but there have’ defi- nitely been changes,” says Stanley. Budget .cuis have closed other native court offices in the province and changed her job. “We ‘used to be able to make referrals and provide ‘information to. people deal- ing with civil court, fam- ily federa] matters and other types of court, and now we're not able to do that,” Stanley says. With legal aid cutbacks, ‘many people come before court without legal represen- tation. Stanley will stand up in court to represent clients if they ask her. She is not mandated to as- sist.with fisheries violations but will try to help people deal with these charges and find lawyers who deal with aboriginal rights. Stanley says’) Supreme Court is a very different pro- cess and those who appear in there usually need’a lawyer. Stanley shares her office with family and child advo- cate Brian Grant, whose role falls under the Ministry of Children and Families. His role is to assist fami- lies involved with child wellness issues, direct them to their rights and respon- BRIAN GRANT, family and child advocate, helps families work out problems and . MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO issues. MARGARET SPEIRS PHOTO “sibilities and ensure that everything is running effi- ciently within the child and community - service . stan- . dards legislative law. . . Grant’s job only covers the Terrace area and duc to budget problems, he’s un- able to travel outside of town - even though he receives re- quests for assistance from Prince Rupert and the Nass Valley. He handles those over the phone. “It would be helpful if he could expand his juris- diction,” Stanley says of -Grant’s work.. Grant, who is in his ninth year at his job, deals with sensitive issues discretely and confidentially. Removal of children from families due to. sub- stance abuse by the parents is about 70 to 80 per cent of the cases. It’s: unfortunate but that’s the way it works,” Grant says. Once removed, the chil- dren technically are in the care of the Ministry for ' Families and Children but close family, members are checked out to see if they will make a suitable home - for the children. Parents will go to coun- selling or treatment centres for help. Once the problem is resolved, children are re- united with their parents. “Once the parent identi- fies the situation and they \ have to deal with it on their they’re not really own -. forced to do it, it’s on their ‘own initiative ~ they know fe -options. That puts stress on. the problem areas and what to work on. It’s up to really the social worker who usu- ally keeps an eye on the Situ- ation,” says Grant.” | Reuniting children with their parents can happen six months to one year later, al- though it can take more than one year for parents to real- ize what they’ve done is a mistake, he says. There have been children | who have been removed more than once from their homes. “It’s unfortunate,” Grant says, adding he’s had some . _ clients who’ve been in and out of the system for years. Parents may not have ad- ‘equate access to support ser- vices and economics plays a role if family income is - limited. Social assistance does not. pay enough to allow a lot of parents who’ may turn to crime or leaving their chil-. dren alone while out. . “Some social issues need to be resolved and J know the government is trying to do ‘their best to accommodate that but I think social assis- tance needs to be increased,” he says, adding that there’s not enough social housing in Terrace. “I’ve talked to Muks-. Kum-O! [Housing Society] — and Skeena Housing, . the ones that provide low-in- come housing, and they have a backlog and’a waiting list. _.“There’s a lot of families. _ or single parents looking for places to live.” Terrace receives a lot of - transient families who come here:due to a Jack of ‘hous- ing or jobs at their home vil- - lages. They move to the city. and urban areas, which cre- ates problems with finding a place to live here, Grant says. Sometimes problems stem from landlords who are selective when renting, pre- - ferring to not allow children or wanting to ensure a quiet. neighbourhood for renters. _ The lack of housing needs to be addressed, Grant adds. Occasionally he has sat ‘in on family case conferenc- - es — a gathering that takes place outside the courtroom: . where the different sides of a family issue can voice their | concerns — and says they’re very helpful. -“T think it’s more efficient — to do it that way because sometimes there’s issues between either. social work- ers or parents that could be worked out during case conferences rather than hav- ing to air them in the court- room,” he says. ERR es Ps ee OE Ley "The Terrace Standard, Wednesday, December 6, 2006 - A5 A CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE TERRACE STANDARD The Mail Bag ‘Lava Lake mystery Dear Sir: I was so glad to get a letter froma friend concerning my recent letter to the editor in The Terrace Standard entitled, “The Ghosts of Lava Lake”. She said her husband was traveling around Lava Lake . when he heard:a flapping noise. He pulled out in a wide spot and checked his tires but all were okay. He mentioned _ the problem to the fellow who was parked just ahead of him and the fellow said that was exactly why he was stopped there, to check his tires. He said he heard a flapping noise and then like something dragging. The mystery is not only the sound that seems to have no cause or origin but that it only happens to certain people. The question now is - are we the privileged, lucky few or the damned and doomed by the, ghosts of Lava Lake? | . - Lloyd Brinson, Nass Camp, B.C. ‘Wants her children Dear Sir: Why would the Ministry of Children and Family De- ° velopment (MCFD) apprehend my ‘children when I am living a healthy lifestyle? My three children were taken by MCFD social workers while they were with baby sitters. It seems that every time my file is assigned with a new MCFD social worker, my children are suddenly swept away. This is abusive. I honestly feel that the MCFD is constantly giving me. two messages. Firstly, my partner and I have taken to ca- pacity life skills training with assigned life skills. work- ers. eryday. This was alright at first because I could demon- Strate to them the things that I know about being a ‘good role model for my children. "Despite the good skills that I kept on task with, the workers would weasel to find something that. was not good. For instance, my partner is new to fatherhood and. struggles with this new responsibility. The MCFD work- ers would purposely .find faults in my partner and label him to young to comprehend fatherhood. - ‘At one point they even suggested that I ‘leave him. . Putting thoughts into my head is. what MCFD does very well, : .. My partner and I have good goals to provide only the best for our children. My partner is young and full of po- The life skills workers have. entered my home many | times. and after my third child was born, they visited ev- tential. He has demonstrated to me the ability to be a very » good father. : Secondly, the workers constantly pester us about alco-. same time they expect us to visit with them everyday... At this time, our ives revolved around the daily sched- led Visits Withrihe-life.skills worker. It felt like we. were _ animals in a'cage that were being trained to obey the own- . er. Woof! Woof! I miss my children. . To date and this includes the past, my partner and i have been visiting with an alcohol and drug worker and we also take couples counseling with a registered psy- chologist. We are also taking: Barly. Learning Canada i in the town where we live. °"! > * Aside from this, we are always in communication with Kermode. Friendship Society’s early childhood develop- ment, CAPP program and the Nisga’ a Child and Family 7 Services workers. It seems that not matter what we do to please the minis- . try, it is not good enough. If it was good enough, then my children would be living with me.. MCED’s child apprehension is the modern residential school child scoop. They will take your children when you least expect it. They took mine while they were with the © . babysitters. The apprehension of my children was totally = uncalled for. It should never have happened. Today, I have gone to court several times only to hear hol and drug programs that we should be attending. At the” © : that MCFD wants to keep my children until they are nine- - teen. Personally, I think that when they say ‘this that I have. no chance with my children. - I am a fully capable mother and need my children. I feel lost inside and I am sure that my children do as well, they need their mother. I know that MCFD only wants to create good little citizens by abducting Indian children but they would also realize that they are only creating broken : spirits. Lorraine Gray, Nass Valley, B. C. ' Some men remain violent. Dear Sir: | Marc Lepine was troubled, but he was not insane. ‘Iti is “easier to believe such acts as the Dec. 6, 1989 Montreal Massacre are inspired by insanity rather than to face the fact that they are the result of ideas ~ ideas that many of us _ share. Violence against women —,whether by a man who beats his female partner or by a Marc Lepine —is the result of an underlying belief that “being a man” "entitles them to a superior position over women. This is the root cause’ of violence against vi women nand i is known as sexism. While many men work hard to unlearn the sexism we've all been raised. with, for many the only difference between those who are violent and others is that. violent men are simply prepared to “back up” their per-, ceived entitlement with fists or bullets, if necessary. Seventeen years after the Montreal Massacre, too many women in Canada continue to feel concern about the vio- lence and fear in their lives. This is why remembering the _ Montreal Massacre is so important —itis a way for women and men to think about this issue and of ways to eradicate . it. Recent events, such as the public forums ‘on violence against women in Surrey, can help us to make the link between male violence, misogyny (hate of women), and the sexism present in all our communities... , Sexism (like racism and other ‘isms’) makes the world, ‘a hostile and unfriendly. place for all of us—regardless.of . . our gender (or cultural background). “So, if we are going to get a handle on this problem, men have to be prepared to challenge the underlying beliefs. This means challenging sexism (jokes, language, actions), get educated about the issue — talk to women, read about it, boycott magazines or- videos portraying women in a degrading or violent way, ‘support political groups whose. policies don’t oppress/- marginalize women and support women’s. groups. - Vanessa Branthill, Terrace, B. Cc. 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