The Federal Government commits $20 Billion to overhaul the Child Welfare System

BY PAUL JUNOR

The federal government agreed to a landmark settlement of $40 billion towards compensation for First Nations’ child welfare underfunding. The dispute was centered on the federal funding for the child welfare system for Indigenous children.

It started in 2007 when the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the First Nations’ Child and Family Caring Society filed a formal complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that the system was rigged, and consequently it led to First Nations’ children being discriminated against.

In 2016, there was a tribunal ruling, which agreed that there was discrimination by the federal government against First Nations’ kids due to deliberate underfunding of the on-reserve child-care system.

Subsequently, in 2016, Ottawa was ordered to pay $40,000, which is the highest amount possible under the Canadian Human Rights Act to “children, along with their primary guardians, who was part of the on-reserve child welfare system from at least January 1^st, 2006.”

ICBC News reported on Tuesday, January 4^th, that the parties in the dispute have until March 31^st, to agree to the details of the settlement. Cindy Woodhouse, Assembly of First Nations Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse stated in a press conference, “First Nations from across Canada have had to work very hard for this day to provide redress for monumental wrongs against First Nations’ children, wrongs fuelled by an inherently biased system.” He explained that First Nations’ children were denied the basic necessities of life and instead were shoved into the foster care system that supposedly had their best interests in mind.

Compensation will also be made available to those affected by what the government called its “narrow definition” of Jordan’s Principle, used between December 12^th, 2007, and November 2^nd, 2017. Compensation is being extended to children who did not receive an essential public service or faced delays in accessing such services between April 1^st,1991 and December 11^th, 2007.

There is an estimate that over 200 000 children and youth would be able to benefit from this compensation according to the AFN. There are still a lot of details that need to be ironed out in order to assist applicants to know whether they would be eligible for compensation. Details about when the payments will commence, and the exact figures have not been finalized.

Patty Hajdu, Indigenous Services Minister states, “Our expectation is that $40 000 is the floor and there may be circumstances where people are entitled to more.”

The commitment of $20 billion by the federal government to overhaul the child welfare system will be spread out over five years. Woodhouse affirms, “Today is about a plan for the future, with First Nations defining and determining a path forward grounded in our rights and the common goal to have our children succeed.”

Hajdu notes, “No compensation amount can make up for the trauma people have experienced, but these agreements-in-principle acknowledge to survivors and their families the harm and pain caused by the discrimination in funding and services.”

There is hope that April 1^st will be the date of the launch.