November 13, 2015
Province Calls for Investigation Into Case of Northern Residents Switched at Birth
The Manitoba government is calling on the federal government to investigate how two men from the Garden Hill First Nation were switched at birth at a federally run hospital in Norway House, Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister Eric Robinson announced today.
Luke Monias and Norman Barkman were born in the Norway House Indian Hospital at Norway House, on June 19, 1975, to Rosamund Monias and Rebecca Barkman of Garden Hill. The two boys grew up as close friends in the remote fly-in First Nation community and many people noticed as they grew older that they resembled each other’s family members more than their own, the minister said.
"In July of this year Luke contacted me about this issue and the possibility that such a thing could happen is shocking,” Minister Robinson said. “The province supports their call for an immediate investigation in this matter.”
Earlier this summer, DNA testing was conducted for Luke, Norman and Rebecca. Results received Nov. 10 confirm that Rebecca is Luke’s biological mother and that Norman is not her child by birth, the minister said.
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