A public inquiry into the death of Phoenix Sinclair, a five-year-old Manitoba girl who was slain in 2005, could be delayed by the union representing child-welfare workers.

A lawyer for a man who police say confessed to choking to death a 6-year old boy in a landmark 1979 missing-child case said Friday his client is mentally ill and has a history of hallucinations.

B.C's representative for children and youth has released a scathing report into the 2008 deaths of Kaitlynne, Cordon and Max Schoenborn, saying the family "fell through the cracks" and the province needs to do more to protect against domestic violence.

An 11-year-old girl is the fifth victim to be identified in Friday's deadly head-on crash in northern Alberta that resulted in the deaths of seven people, including one other child.