April 5, 2023 – In early 2022, the Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) recognized the historic agreement, in-principle, regarding harms to First Nations children, families that delivered $20 billion in compensation to victims and survivors, as well as a further $20 billion for long term reforms to First Nations child welfare services.
After the announced agreement, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rejected the Government of Canada’s $20 billion offer to compensate First Nations children and families harmed by the discriminatory on-reserve child welfare system as it left some children out and did not guarantee compensation for each child and caregiver ordered by the human rights body in a landmark ruling.
The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society (FNCFCS) led the challenge to renegotiate the agreement-in-principle to include about 13,000 more children who were put in foster care placements that were not funded by Indigenous Services Canada, the estates of deceased parents and children, and caregivers denied essential services under a policy known as Jordan's Principle.
“The additional $3.5 billion to its initial $20 billion offer is a direct consequence of the advocacy of the FNCFCS under the leadership of Dr. Cindy Blackstock” notes CASW President, Joan Davis-Whelan. “She has placed First Nations children and their families in the centre of advocacy and has not yielded against all forces that have tried to stop, circumvent and reduce the obligation to recognize and compensate children.”
As background, in 2007, the FNCFCS and the Assembly of First Nations AFB initiated a complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act alleging that the Government of Canada’s inequitable provision of child welfare services to 163,000 First Nations children, along with its flawed implementation of Jordan’s Principle, was discriminatory on the prohibited grounds of race and national ethnic origin.
In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found Ottawa discriminated against First Nations children by under-funding on-reserve child welfare services. In 2021 the Federal Court dismissed an application for a judicial review of a landmark human rights tribunal compensation order for First Nations children. In 2022, the Government of Canada and the AFN announced a 40$ billion compensation package that was rejected by the FNCFCS as excluded victims coved in the initial ruling. The agreement today must be approved by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal before it can be sent to the Federal Court for final approval.
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