Indigenous youth suicide a national issue, Alberta's child advocate says

Alberta mustaddress the outstanding problem of young people dying from suicideespecially in Indigenous communities, the province'schild and youth advocate told a ministerial panel looking at the child intervention system Thursday.

Last spring, Del Graffissueda report that detailed investigations into the suicides of seven Aboriginal youth who had received child intervention services.

Graff told the panel he believes it would "make a difference," ifrecommendations from that reportcalled Toward a Better Tomorrowwere implemented in a "decisive and committed way."

Nearly one year after the report was released, one critical recommendation has yet to be addressed, according to Graff.

Alberta has yet to adopt a province-wide suicide prevention strategy for young people that can be applied in Indigenous communities.

"Those kinds of measures, in my view, have got to be taken," Graff said.

"Manitoba's got the same issue.Ontario has the same issue. This is becoming a national issue the issue of Indigenous young people who are dying by suicide," Graff told the panel.

Indigenous people need bigger role

While he remains hopefulthe panel's work willimprovethe system, he remains worriedabout the lack of involvement of youthandIndigenous people.

"This is a system that affects them directly," said Graff. "It's not good that there isn't a greater Indigenous presence."

The panel also heard from RCMP K Division, Assistant Commissioner Marlin Degrand who touched briefly on the case of Serenity, the four-year-old child who died while in kinship care in 2014.

Degrand said theRCMP "continues to have a conversation with Crown prosecutors" about the case, but that it is still "a very live matter as to where the investigation is going to go."

The panel of MLAs and social work experts was hastily called late last year, after serious issues were raised about how Serenity's death was mishandled.

Graff alsotold the panel that the caseload of hisoffice grew by 21 per centin 2016.

"We are busy, we are busy in every program area that we have," Graffsaidpointingout his office is trying to cope with a greater need and more public awareness of what his office does.

Since April 1, 2016 to the end of January2017, his office received 63 reports of children who have either died, or been seriously injured, Graffsaid