Affidavit of Michael Bear - Phoenix Sinclair Inquiry

government to tackle the issue. The government certainly should be
applauded for some of the efforts they have made. The evidence presented
was that over eight separate government departments are involved and many
community agencies involved in the area of children. The purpose of the
strategy is to reduce and prevent child sexual exploitation through a multidisciplinary
and multi-jurisdictional approach with different initiatives.
Their intention is to raise awareness (schools, etc.), be involved in training
of foster parents, addressing issues and developing responses. Ms Scheirich
confirmed once again the numbers involved, their presence in the child
welfare system, the number of aboriginal victims and the nature of the issues
— abuse, homelessness, runaways, vulnerability, addictions.
[52] She was able to detail the response of initiatives taken, partnership
with different government departments and agencies, training programs and
new legislation. They have provided valuable resource documentation and
intervention strategies.
[53] It was obvious from Ms Scheirich's testimony that the deceased
Tracia Owen fit in what might be described as the profile of a typical
sexually exploited female youth.
[54] Although the strategy for Sexually Exploited Youth is an excellent
first step, it is essentially preventative. The coordination of existing
initiatives and programs is important, however, in my view it is necessary to
have new resources to create new initiatives, both preventative and service
delivery. In other words, new additional resources are needed to augment
the present initiatives by the variety of organizations under the Strategy's
umbrella.
[55] The new resources could provide a more direct, hands-on, cultural
approach, directed by a dedicated unit to the problem of sexually exploited
youth. This unit may have people from many of the government
departments and agencies involved at present but it must be augmented by
aboriginal organizations that have experience in the field of sexually
exploited youth and can address the obvious cultural issues in a meaningful
way.
[56] It was clear from the testimony given by many that one of the serious
gaps in any programming is the insufficiency of residential programs
available to sexually exploited youth when you consider the number of
young people involved. That is not to say that residential spaces are the only
answer, for example, foster homes are another possible resource to be
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