And this time the system is behind it.
The young girl I am speaking about is of course 11 year old Makayla Sault a member of the New Credit First Nations of Ontario.
Little Makayla died yesterday of leukemia.
She need not have and there is much blame to go around.
Last year, her parents successfully challenged the Children’s Aid in the Society’s in its attempt to keep Makayla on chemotherapy, which her doctors said would save her life.
I am not going to criticize Makayla’s parents here since they have suffered enough with the loss of their child.
I do think the Children’s Aid Society did not try hard enough to get this little girl the proper medical help she needed but I save my main criticism for the Judge who inexplicably allowed Makayla to reject further treatment.
The Judge we are talking about is Ontario Justice Gethin Edward, himself an aboriginal.
He sided with the family wishes to see their youngster receive “traditional native medical treatment” in place of the tried and true chemo.
Most bizarrely, this traditional medical treatment turned out come from some hockus pokus white man’s clip joint in the southern USA.
Traditional Native Medicine be damned.
When this case first came up last year, I said then, in one of my Blogs, that the Judge would have to live with his faulty decision for the rest of his life.
The time has now come and I hope it rests heavily on his shoulders.
His decision undercuts once again the claim by - Native Leadership that they know what is best for their Band Members.
There is a serious disconnect here and sadly little Makalya Sault has just paid the ultimate price for it.
As I see it …
‘K.D. Galagher’
