The Federation of Saskatchewan Indigenous Nations has penned an open letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, calling on his government to fulfill a promise to table Indigenous child welfare legislation.
“In December of 2018, you made a commitment at a National Chiefs Gathering in Ottawa. The promise was that Child Welfare Legislation would be priority by end of January 2019. However, this date has come and gone and the budget for this legislation has not been presented,” Chief Cameron says in the letter.
“At that meeting, the situation was declared a humanitarian crisis. This is due to the grotesque levels of over-representation of First Nations children in care.”
The federal Liberals have presented Chiefs with draft legislation, but media reports indicate First Nations leaders are not happy with the bill. But time is running out for legislation to receive royal assent before the House of Commons rises in the summer ahead of a fall election.
“In its current state the consultation Bill allows provincial intrusion into our jurisdiction and responsibility for our children, based on a denial of rights approach instead of upholding our Inherent Rights and Treaties recognizing our inherent rights of self-determination and self-government,” the letter states.
Cameron says the FSIN has no problem coordinating with other governments, but does not want to see a child welfare system “that subordinates or places us under a province with no recognition of our right to set our own family policy and protect our children and families.”
“Prime Minister, the issue is pretty simple. If you can’t do right by Indigenous children, the most vulnerable population today, and throughout the history of this country, then there is no way your government can be viewed as having the political will to get any other aspect of the First Nations agenda right.”