Editorial - Root causes of suicide by children

The governmental response to the suicide problem at Manitoba's Shamattawa First Nation is classic, it would seem, in its form and predictable in its effect. The media storm that erupted in 2002 from a cluster of suicides and attempted suicides at the northern, isolated community, embarrassed governments to throw cash at the problem.

It was also a temporary "fix" and today children there continue to kill themselves. The $100,000 the federal and provincial governments earmarked, in the aftermath of the 2002 crisis, for prevention and healing at Shamattawa has been spent and the programs closed; there's been little else heard out of Ottawa since.