Tribunal orders Ottawa, First Nations to resume negotiations on child welfare reforms

Executive Director of First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada, Cindy Blackstock speaks on child welfare during the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Special Chiefs Assembly in Ottawa, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

OTTAWA — The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is ordering parties involved in a decade-long child welfare case to work together — or separately — to reform the system and stop Ottawa from further discriminating against First Nations children.

The order comes nine years after the tribunal concluded that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding the on-reserve child welfare system, following a joint 2007 human rights complaint from the Assembly of First Nations and the Caring Society.

The Tribunal said Ottawa’s underfunding was discriminatory because it meant kids living on reserve were given fewer services than those living off reserve. It tasked Canada with reaching an agreement with First Nations to reform the system, and with compensating children who were torn from their families and put in foster care.

But in the nine years since that decision, progress to reach an agreement has been met with several roadblocks, culminating in a $47.8 billion deal that was twice rejected by First Nations last year and Ottawa telling the Tribunal in May the requests being put onto it were “unreasonable.”

In an order published on Aug. 20, the tribunal said the impasse cannot continue.

“Canada was ordered to complete long-term reform. Canada can agree to negotiate or not however, one thing that Canada cannot do is simply wait and let time go by,” the Tribunal wrote.

Should Ottawa refuse to resume negotiations, the Tribunal said, the Assembly of First Nations, the Caring Society and the newly-formed National Children’s Chiefs’ Commission, along with their First Nations partners, can present the Tribunal with an evidence-based reform plan of their own.

Cindy Blackstock, head of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, welcomed the decision.

“(Ottawa) can bring themselves back into alignment with the Tribunal’s orders and save Canadians’ money and do the right thing for kids. All they have to do is make that decision,” she said in an interview.

“If they don’t choose to make that decision, I think that they’re going to see serious ramifications, both financially, legally and morally.”

Blackstock has said for more than a year Ottawa is responsible for ceasing talks, deciding instead to focus on a separate deal reached with First Nations in Ontario that is pending approvals.

The Tribunal ruled that while Ottawa has reached a deal with First Nations in Ontario, that deal should not be imposed on the rest of the country, nor should it set the standard for future talks.

The Tribunal said any proposed plan must have lasting effects and be properly funded for present and future generations, incorporate diverse perspectives, be evidence-based, culturally appropriate and ensure it complies with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

“It makes clear that Canada needs to come to the table in good faith and discuss how it’s going to stop its discrimination and prevent it from happening again in ways that are informed by evidence, that strive for excellence and that are not contingent on anything that Canada has agreed to within the Ontario final agreement,” Blackstock said of the order.

The Canadian Press has reached out to Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty’s office for a statement but has not yet received a response.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press