Simeon Tsakapesh asks why inquiry on Innu children in foster care hasn't begun

FormerInnu Nationdeputy Grand Chief Simeon Tsakapeshis dismayed the inquiry into Innuchildren in foster care hasn't gone ahead yet.

The inquiry was originally announced by the provincial government and thenInnuNationGrand Chief Anastasia Qupee, with both saying they would make every effort to have theinquiryinitiated by Sept. 30, 2017.

"I need some answers because I lost my son over their system so I need to know," Tsakapesh said at a mental health awareness event in Happy Valley Goose Bay on Wednesday.

Tsakapeshcalled for the inquiryafter his son Thunderheart Napeu Tsakapeshdied by suicide in May.

"I'm not going to stop. I'm going to start putting posters on their government buildings and give them a message," he said."Me and my wife are going to do that because I need to know why my son died in their own system."

Too many lost

In awritten statement, Innu Nation Grand Chief Gregory Rich, who was elected in August, said it is important for the inquiry to begin soon because "Innufamilies have lost too many youth and children to the child welfare system."

• Parents open up about sons' deaths, want stories heard at upcoming foster care inquiry

Rich said they are waiting for a response from the federal government right nowregarding its participation in the inquiry.

"The federal government funds these services for First Nations on reserve so their role in this process is important," the statement read.

"We hope that the Trudeau government is looking closely at this and that Canada acts on our request to join this Inquiry soon so that we can collectively and quickly move forward with an approach that works for all parties."

Earlier this summer Indigenous and Northern affairs minister Carolyn Bennett said the federal government will play a role in the inquiry, but that that role would be determined by the needs of the province and Innu Nation.