9 parties granted status at Sinclair inquiry

A retired judge has granted standing to nine parties in the inquiry into thedeath of five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair.

Some 17 parties had sought standing in the inquiry, which is expected to start in the fall.

Phoenix Victoria Hope Sinclair was killed on the Fisher River First Nation in June 2005 but herbody was not located untilMarch 2006. She had been wrapped in plastic and buried in a shallow, unmarked grave near the garbage dump on the reserve, located about 220 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Commissioner Ted Hughes said the province, the union representing social workers and the Intertribal Child and Family Services can all have separate standing.

Other child welfare agencies have been grouped together and granted standing as a single party.

Phoenix's biological father Steve Sinclair and foster motherKim Edwardshave also been granted shared standing.

On Dec. 12, 2008,Phoenix's mother Samantha Kematch and her common-law husband Karl McKay were convicted of first degree murder.

They are not eligible for parole for 25 years.

The inquiry will examine how the provincial child welfare failed to protect Phoenix and why her death went undiscovered for months.