The federal government has signed a $ 20 billion final settlement agreement to compensate First Nations children and families affected by chronic underfunding of child welfare on reserves, which Indigenous Services of Canada said Monday was the largest deal in Canadian history.
“First Nations children deserve to be surrounded by love and to live free from discriminatory government policies,” Cindy Woodhouse, Manitoba’s regional leader in the First Nations Assembly, said in a statement Monday.
“And after three decades of advocacy and months of negotiations, I am proud to say on behalf of the AFN that we have reached another historic milestone for our children and their families.”
The agreement, reached between Canada, the Assembly of First Nations and the plaintiffs in two class actions, also explains the federal government’s narrow definition of the Jordan principle. It was designed to ensure that jurisdictional disputes over payment for services to First Nations children do not impede the provision of such services.
“The parties have agreed on a plan to resolve compensation claims to recognize families and individuals who have suffered greatly from discriminatory and systematically racist child welfare practices,” Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said in an interview.
The federal government announced in January that it had reached agreements in principle, which include $ 20 billion for compensation and an additional $ 20 billion to reform the First Nations child welfare system for five years. The full $ 40 billion was earmarked for the 2021 tax update.
The First Nations Children and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations first filed a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act in 2007, arguing that chronic underfunding of child welfare services on reserves it was discriminatory compared to the services provided by provincial governments to children. in other communities.
Ottawa pays child welfare on reservations, but only equals provincial spending if children are in foster care. The result is many more child apprehensions and family breakdowns than necessary, and fewer services and supports to help families overcome a crisis.
Data from the 2016 census show that less than eight per cent of Canadian children under the age of 15 are Indigenous, but Indigenous youth account for more than half of those under the age of 15 in foster care.
The Court of Human Rights of Canada ruled in 2016 that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children. The Liberal government appealed this ruling and asked a court to overturn it. The court declined.
In 2019, the court ordered the government to pay the maximum compensation it could claim – $ 40,000 – to each child who was unnecessarily withdrawn from their families since January 1, 2006, and also to parents or grandparents to whom the children were taken.
The court also ruled that the criteria needed to be expanded so that more First Nations children could be eligible for the Jordan Principle.
The federal government also challenged the court’s orders in the Federal Court and last fall appealed the ruling confirming it.
But that call was halted pending negotiations with indigenous leaders on the compensation program. Former Senator Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, was hired to help facilitate the talks.
The agreement has finally been signed by all parties and submitted to the Federal Court. Both the court and the Canadian Court of Human Rights will have to approve the agreement before handing over money.
“I can’t imagine how families have felt waiting,” Woodhouse said in an interview.
The government’s appeal is still before the court, but a spokesman for Indigenous Services Canada said it is only to speed up the process. Once the court approves this agreement, the appeal will be discussed, the government said.
Hajdu said he cannot say when people will be able to apply for and receive compensation, but the AFN said it expects this to happen next year.
The other $ 20 billion in long-term reforms includes five-year funding for the First Nations Child and Family Services program.
Hajdu said the negotiation is more complex and requires the creation of “integrated mechanisms to ensure that children receive equal and adequate care, and increasingly, that indigenous communities have the tools to take control of this care. “.
These reforms will take place largely under Bill C-92, passed in June 2019, which states that the jurisdiction of child welfare services in indigenous communities rests with indigenous families and communities.
“After residential schools, after day schools, after the 60’s scoop and all these things that our people have gone through, and now we have the child welfare system … we really need a re-establishment to recover the our families “. said Woodhouse.
“At the end of the day, it depends on the First Nations. It’s their jurisdiction when it comes to their children. “
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