Northern demonstrators rally alongside Toronto counterparts over axing of child advocate

As demonstrators rally at Queen's Park in Toronto over the Ontario government's decision to axe the province's child and youth advocate's office, supporters in Thunder Bay are lending their voices.

Demonstrators gathered in front of the northwestern Ontario city's courthouse Thursday morning collecting signatures calling on the PC government to reverse its decision to terminate the position of Irwin Elman, Ontario's child advocate.

Elman's position, along with two other legislative officers, are on the chopping block as part of Bill 57, which was introduced by the Tories alongside the fall economic update on Nov. 15.

"For me, I saw [the Toronto rally] happening, I put a call out and I thought it was important and felt compelled that we need to do something, we need to say something," said Jayal Chung, one of the Thunder Bay organizers. "It's going to have drastic effects here in Thunder Bay."

Chung pointed to the work the child advocate's office did through the Feathers of Hope forums during the inquest into the deaths of seven First Nations students that took place in the northwestern Ontario city in 2015 and 2016.

"There's really important information, recommendations ... to bring together our community to really demonstrate the inequity of access to care," Chung said, adding that she was "devastated," when she learned that the child advocate's position is set to be cut.

"I thought about what's been happening in Thunder Bay, I thought about the youth who have really inspired me, who are inspiring me with their courage to speak out and their daily struggle," she said.

Local demonstrators were also scheduled to stop at the campuses of Lakehead University and Confederation College, as well as the Intercity Shopping Centre.

The province has said that some of the child advocate's office's functions will be transferred to Ontario's ombudsman. The organizations behind Thursday's rallies in Toronto faculty, students, alumni and staff from Ryerson University and the Ontario Children's Advocacy Coalition have said that's not appropriate, given the ombudsman's office "has no experience dealing with child welfare, child and youth mental health and youth justice sectors."

'We often have to send our youth away'

Support also came from Ontario's far north as Nishnawbe Aski Nation, the territorial organization that represents 49 First Nations in the province, said that a member of Mishkeegogamang First Nation 23-year-old Cassandra Spade attended the main rally in Toronto.

Spade told CBC News that the advocate's office has been a champion for Indigenous youth.

"We are well aware of what issues we have with our foster care system, our child welfare system and the inaccessibility to resources," she said. "We often have to send our youth away to become educated, to get adequate housing, to get adequate care."

The bonds and "cultural relevance" between young people and their communities can weaken or be severed over time, she said; Spade added that the advocate was also important, as Indigenous youth are over-represented in the child welfare system.

NAN said that the child advocate's office has supported its First Nations through Feathers of Hope, the Seven Youth Inquest and its "commitment to reforming child welfare."

"I'm hoping that they're listening to young people," Spade said of the province.