Manitoba association claims emails to Minister Fontaine are being blocked or ignored; province denies allegations

The Manitoba Foster Parent Association is demanding answers from the provincial government after it suspects its emails to Families Minister Nahanni Fontaine are either being ignored or blocked.

Association president Jamie Pfau’s suspicions grew last week when a fellow board member reached out to Minister Fontaine about a memorial for a child who had died in the Child Welfare System.

But instead of the customary confirmation email, all she got was radio silence.

That prompted Pfau to try her luck, both with her personal email and the one for the association.

‘’I didn’t receive any confirmation email or any type of interaction from the minister herself or any other staff, indicating these emails are either being ignored or blocked,” Pfau told CityNews.

“I would like to say I’m surprised, but in dealing with this government, this is the expectation at this point. It’s really sad because we want change.”

Pfau finally got the minister’s auto response email after using the email address of a family business.

The province strongly denied the allegations to CityNews during a phone conversation on July 30, blaming the lack of communication on a tech issue that stopped auto replies from being sent if the sender had previously emailed the minister’s office in the past.

However following last month’s controversy with APTN regarding comments Fontaine made about a sign-language interpreter, Pfau has difficulty accepting the province’s explanation. Following the minister’s comments, APTN reporters were blocked from Fontaine’s social media. That move was later reversed.

“It would be a totally different story if we came across as aggressive or was inappropriate in any way,” Pfau said. “I’ve only ever been professional on behalf of the association and myself as a foster parent. Same with every elected board member, we are only looking for help, not to start problems.”

The Manitoba Foster Parent Association and its 800 members says it hoped to see real change under the Manitoba NDP. But now two years into that administration, the association remains far from convinced – after years of having its concerns ignored by the previous government.

“I just feel sad for the children, and the foster parents that are spending countless hours messaging me and others on the board asking for advocacy, asking for help,” Pfau said. “Meanwhile my direct line of communication has been blocked and that message to me is we don’t care. And if you don’t care about foster parents, how can you care about the children in care.”