Winnipeg - Manitoba Child and Family Services is prepared to return two young children to their Winnipeg mother - an alleged neo-Nazi - and drop their application for permanent custody, the Winnipeg Free Press has learned.
The deal would involve having the seven-year-old girl and two-year-old boy slowly integrated back into the home, first on weekends and eventually back to full-time care.
The development came after the mother - who cannot be named to protect the identity of the children - recently separated from her husband, an admitted white supremacist who has made a series of disturbing online posts in recent months.
"He's a bigot. And I have no tolerance for bigotry or ignorance," the woman told the Free Press in an interview yesterday.
Calling herself a "white nationalist ... but not a neo-Nazi skinhead," the woman said she would abide by whatever conditions CFS wishes in order to regain custody of her children.
"The lead investigator of the hate crimes unit can come and handcuff himself to my couch if he wants. I have no problem jumping through their hoops," she said.
A spokeswoman for Manitoba Child and Family Services said yesterday the department cannot comment on the case, due to privacy legislation. The case is before the courts and will next appear on June 23.
The Free Press has obtained copies of a CFS case summary that details why police and child-welfare officials got involved in the case. They were called to an elementary school on March 25 after the little girl come to school with disturbing markings on her body.
"There were symbols written and drawn on [the girl's] arms and one leg in permanent red and blue marker pens," the summary states. The markings included a swastika symbol on her arm, the words "Hail Victory" and "Aryan Pride" and the number "14/88," which is a popular reference to Hitler in the white-supremacist community.
She also had a 14-word slogan scrawled across her legs, reading, "We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children," according to the report.
Police and CFS quickly went to the family's apartment and seized her two-year-old brother. While inside, police found "indication of the parent's neo-Nazi, white supremist beliefs," the report states.
The children were seized based on a belief by CFS that "the children may be at risk due to the parents' behaviour and associates. The parents might endanger the emotional well-being of the children," according to court documents.
Other concerns were expressed, including the fact the little girl had missed 39 days of school this year. She told authorities her parents sleep in and don't want to get her ready or take her. There were also concerns about alcohol and drug use in the home.
"She seems to be aware that her parents' beliefs are not held by others," the document says.
