Canada’s historical treatment of First Nations, Inuit and Métis is widely known and understood, largely attributed to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s work culminating with its 94 Calls to Action published in 2015. But while residential schools have closed, many don’t understand that the same destructive principals are core to systems that operate today, specifically the so-called ‘child welfare’ industry. Fifty-four percent of kids in ‘care’ in Canada are Indigenous despite making up less than 8% of Canada’s population. Billions of dollars a year are spent across Canada to remove children from their homes and shuffle them throughout a system that employs tens of thousands of Canadians, from front line case workers to administrative staff to directors, foster parents, large children’s advocate offices, group home workers, policy analysts, deputy ministers and ministers, lawyers and judges, just to name a few. Even a $40-billion settlement against Canada in 2022 for inflicting this system on First Nations children, didn’t stop the industry in its tracks in fact, the number of kids being apprehended and churned through the system, continues to grow in many provinces and territories. Ridgen will share some of what she’s learned in more than a decade investigating this industry