Former foster parent says 6-year-old’s death in Shamattawa First Nation was preventable, calls for inquiry

Posted on September 25, 2024 by Peggy

The former foster parent of a six-year-old boy who went missing and was later found dead in a northeastern Manitoba community is calling for an inquiry into his death.

Johnson Redhead was reported missing to RCMP in Shamattawa First Nation shortly after noon last Wednesday. Following a large-scale search, his body was found Sunday night in a marshy area about three and a half kilometres from the school where he was last seen.

Brittany Bannerman fostered Johnson Redhead in 2020, until a kinship placement was arranged two years ago that allowed his close relatives to take care of him.

Bannerman, who chairs the diversity committee of the Manitoba Foster Parent Association, wants an inquiry, which she said would address ongoing systemic gaps in Manitoba’s child and family services, the education system, family support programs and health-care services.

“The Redhead family is facing devastation. I cannot express the heartbreak that is going through all of his parents, his aunties, his uncles, his siblings and honestly his entire community,” she told CBC on Tuesday.

Boy with open mouth and grey sweater looks at the camera. — Johnson Redhead had autism and was nonverbal. He went missing last Wednesday, and was found dead Sunday night about three and a half kilometres from the school where he was last seen. (RCMP)

Bannerman says she received permission from Johnson’s family to advocate for an inquiry.

The six-year-old had autism and was nonverbal. His death was preventable, and raises concerns about the lack of co-ordinated care and safety protocols to help children with complex needs in northern Manitoba, said Bannerman.

RCMP previously said Johnson was last seen around 9 a.m. on Sept. 18, when he attended a breakfast program at school in Shamattawa First Nation, about 750 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. He didn’t show up to class after that, and was reported missing around 12:30 p.m.

Searchers in the community immediately began combing wooded areas, trails, roads and sheds and checking construction equipment, Mounties said.

Members of Manto Sipi Cree Nation, Garden Hill First Nation, Pimicikamak Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation helped in the search, which also included personnel from the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, Winnipeg Volunteer Search and Rescue, RCMP search and rescue, and the Office of the Fire Commissioner.

A police dog, two drones and a helicopter were also used in the search.

Family struggled to find respite care

Bannerman said Johnson’s family loved him deeply but struggled to find respite care.

She wants details from the school about how he ended up going missing, and wants the child welfare system held accountable to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

“Had he had proper one-on-one supports supervising him at the school breakfast program to ensure that he made it … to class, and proper one-on-one supports in a classroom, Johnson would have never went missing,” Bannerman said.

“The access to educational assistants and those sorts of supports are in dire need, especially in northern Manitoba, and while I would love to say that all of the Winnipeg schools are better, they’re not. We have a shortage of educational assistants and of proper funding for supports provincewide.”

The Awasis Agency of Northern Manitoba, which oversees child and family services in Shamattawa First Nation, declined to comment.

In a written statement, a spokesperson for the province said “all of Manitoba is grieving the loss of Johnson Redhead,” but that due to the ongoing RCMP investigation and out of respect for the privacy of the boy’s family, “we cannot provide any more information at this time.”

Bannerman also said the community wants to ensure search and rescue teams can be launched when needed “at the drop of a hat,” that there is consistent cellphone service in Shamattawa, and that educational supports are in place so parents and guardians can feel safe sending their kids to school.

A group of searchers. — People search for Johnson in Shamattawa First Nation. Searchers in the community immediately began combing wooded areas, trails, roads and sheds and checking construction equipment after he was reported missing, RCMP said. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Manitoba/Facebook)

Johnson’s case brings to mind the systemic gaps in the death of five-year-old Jordan River Anderson, from Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba, said Bannerman.

He died in hospital in 2005 while the provincial and federal governments disputed who would pay for the care he needed at home for his multiple disabilities. His death led to the creation of Jordan’s Principle, which says that all First Nations children, living on or off reserve, must have equitable and timely access to all public services, without bureaucratic delays.

Bannerman said the provincial and federal governments continue to underfund the education, health-care and child and family welfare systems.

She also said there is no mandatory training to help foster parents, customary care providers or kinship placements in the province, leaving caretakers to fend for themselves.

The RCMP said Sunday their investigation into Johnson’s death is continuing.