Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde says immediate relief for First Nations children and families must be the next urgent step in child welfare reform, and the federal government must work together with First Nations to uphold the fourth and most recent compliance order by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
In a decision released by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal today, the federal government is once again being ordered to address several aspects of funding for First Nations child welfare agencies, with the goal of eliminating racial discrimination against First Nations children.
The Tribunal noted that the manner in which Canada limits funding for prevention services is not an acceptable fiscal or social policy and is harming First Nations children as a result.
Jane Philpott, the minister of Indigenous Services, announced that letters are being sent to all 105 First Nations Child and Family Services agencies, informing them that the federal government will immediately begin to cover agencies’ actual costs for prevention, intake and investigation, legal fees, building repairs, among others, and will be reimbursing these costs retroactively to January 26, 2016.
The AFN and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society jointly filed the complaint with the Tribunal in February 2007, alleging the provision of First Nations Child and Family Services by the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs was flawed, inequitable and thus discriminatory under the Canadian Human Rights Act.
(PHOTO: AFN Chief Perry Bellegarde. Photo courtesy of the AFN.)