By Owen Charters

In a previous role, I helped craft the Order of Canada nomination for my organization’s board chair, Patrick Johnston. In pulling together the nomination, I did a lot of research about the Sixties Scoop, as Patrick had been a social worker and researcher who among many other accomplishments wrote a significant paper on the Scoop and brought the issue to prominence in the Canadian media.

Many of us have heard of residential schools and their travesty and tragedy—as well as the ongoing impact of these institutions—on generations of Indigenous children and families. But fewer of us may be aware of the ongoing removal of Indigenous children from their families and placing them “in care,” which is often foster care with other families.

In the 1960s, it was common practise to remove almost all newborn children on reserve from their mothers and place them into the child welfare system—to ‘scoop’ them. Patrick named this period the Sixties Scoop, and it is yet another indignity and abomination that this country has perpetuated on Indigenous families and communities. And the Scoop has not stopped. Today, Indigenous mothers often still have their babies taken from them by child welfare agencies and the battles to retain custody are frequent and many.

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS) was established in the 1990s to connect Indigenous families and resources, and to ensure that Indigenous children can grow up supported at home, with their families. Executive Director (and former BGC Canada board member) Cindy Blackstock is a vocal advocate, speaking frequently about the needs of Indigenous families and children and exposing the ongoing disparities and failures of policy.

In the fall of 2021, FNCFCS won a significant legal victory. The Federal Court upheld a ruling to award compensation in response to ongoing underfunding of child welfare programs, for the unnecessary removal of Indigenous children from homes and families, and failing to uphold Jordan’s principle, which is a policy to ensure that funding flows to First Nations children no matter if various levels of government cannot agree on responsibility. This ruling will result in billions of dollars in compensation to more than 50,000 people.

Today, we honour and participate in Have A Heart Day, a campaign from FNCFCS to recognize and support Indigenous families and children and to continue to advocate for fair funding and supports. Our official statement in support of Have a Heart Day can be found here.

Have A Heart Day, Spirit Bear, and working with FNCFCS is one of many steps we can each take on the path of Reconciliation, a journey of lifting up all children and families and undoing the terrible legacy of residential schools, the Sixties Scoop, and dismantling families.

Today and every day, show your support, learn and reflect, and join us in taking action.

The latest message from Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada (July 3). Full transcript below.

With summer here, I know that Clubs are shifting focus. Usually we go from out of school programs to summer camps, typically an intense period at most Clubs. I’m going to step away from the camera for the summer—at least for these weekly updates.

Summer camps are in for many, but not for all. And where they are in, they don’t look like normal camps—staff to camper ratios are higher, and more activities are done over a distance or in different ways, with masks, hand sanitizer, and frequent cleaning.

It’s complicated and difficult, yet you are doing the work with kids to ensure they have something that looks like a summer.

This is important not just for families who need this—a way to access childcare while they work, or seek work. This is important because kids need it. Several articles and studies are now out looking at the impact the quarantine has on kids.

Because humans are social beings, the developmental stages of childhood are vital to forming the social behaviours that are critical for adult success.

Kids learn from others. They learn how to interact, how to negotiate, how to function socially. They learn what works, and what doesn’t. They learn social instincts, and how to work and play with others. They learn ethics, responsibility, and morals.

Sure they can learn from the adults in their lives, but it is not the same as the constant interaction that comes from being with your peers.

While some time in quarantine and away from other kids is an inconvenience, the longer kids stay away from others the more detrimental the effects. We need to work on and implement safe ways for kids to get back to being kids.  To seeing their friends, interacting with their peers.

The kids are increasingly not alright. It’s not just the support system that Clubs provide outside of school and home—it’s the very nature of being young, of needing to socialize and connect.

As adults, we can often find creative ways to connect with family and friends. We can rationalize the problem and have patience.

These are not options for children and youth. They need to connect, and this summer, they need to find their peers and interact. Safely.

Let’s work together to find ways to support the children and youth of Canada. Let’s keep them safe—physically and mentally.

Stay safe, be strong, be well.

The latest message from Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada (June 26). Full transcript below.

This may not be as exciting a topic as some of the other weeks, but I think it’s an important one. I want to talk balance sheets and business.

Carolyn Tuckwell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Coast BC, noted this week that charities and nonprofits are being treated the same as for profits in many of the government conversations and support programs that have been central in the last few months, and this is a refreshing change. I’ve joked that charities often feel like they are at the ‘kids table’ at the dinner party, so it’s nice to be at the adult table. Usually, we may be in the room, but we don’t always get to play with the adults—that’s reserved for the big corporations.

Well, if we are to be treated the same as business, then we need to act like it. That means we need to pay attention to one vital tool of organizational health—the balance sheet. The balance sheet is your bank account. What cash do you have available? What do you owe? What do you own? And most importantly—in a crisis, how much do you have available quickly to pay bills and keep you afloat? It’s where the emergency savings are stashed. A good balance sheet is a sign of fiscal health. We need to pay attention to the fiscal health of all charities—we will be tested again beyond this initial pandemic lockdown. And we need to be prepared.

Unfortunately, too many donors frown on a strong balance sheet. Why isn’t that cash being put to immediate use? Why not spend every last dollar on the immediate needs of today? Unrestricted giving is low on the priority list, if even a consideration. Yet unrestricted dollars support the most essential work—making sure the organization is strong enough to do the work that’s demanded of it. And part of that is a healthy balance sheet to ensure that the organization can survive fiscal downturns like the recession we’re in today—our Clubs need to be able to survive to provide services.

Yet there is one way we are not like businesses—supply and demand come from different places. Supply of cash and resources, and demand for our services, that is. More people, more families will be demanding our services—and already are. Clubs have already said there are waiting lists that they can’t fulfil. But unlike in a business, the supply—the cash to do the work—comes from other sources: donors, funders, governments. This can lead to a fundamental mis-match—high demand, but weakening supply.

We need funders to step up, to see the demand, and to understand that charities—like our Clubs—are part of the vital social safety net that is needed to catch those who are struggling, and prop up those who need a push. Otherwise, they will not benefit from an economic recovery.