An Edmonton lawyer is calling on the government to hold a fatality inquiry into the death of a four-month-old girl. The baby died six days after being apprehended by the province.
The province is still waiting on results of the autopsy, but standard procedure in a case such as this would have the government speak to all staff involved, examine their files to see if improvements can be made.
The mother of the child, who cannot be identified under current provincial legislation, says two social workers and an RCMP officer came to her door in early April with apprehension orders for her roommate's children. She says her own daughter was also taken.
The mother says she and her own mother were granted a one-hour visit with the child in a foster care setting a couple of days later. They say the girl had red marks and dried feces on her body and was suffering with diarrhea. A request to get the child to a doctor, they say, was turned down until the following Monday.
But on that Monday, the mother says she was told the girl had died after being taken to hospital in Edmonton.
"I seen her lying there her for a while and all I kept saying was they did this to her?" the mother said. "How can you take a perfectly healthy, happy little girl and this is what happens in a week?"
An Edmonton lawyer is calling on the government to be more accountable for the welfare of children in their care.
"We have no government representatives here, we have no child welfare workers here, we don't have the children's advocate here. Who do we have here?" said Robert Lee.
Lee is demanding the province examine the baby's death right now, and not years down the road. The lawyer organized a rally a week after learning that the baby died days after being taken into foster care.
Lee says it is another example change is needed in the foster care system.
"I receive calls on a constant basis by people who have been severely damaged by our child welfare system. The system is supposed to help children not harm them or kill them," he said.
Dozens of people at the rally joined Lee in calling for an inquiry into the death of the baby.
The mother of the baby, along with opposition parties, will continue to press the government for more information.
The province has responded by saying it is waiting on autopsy results before seeing what, if any, improvements need to be made.
