OTTAWA - A historic agreement in principle has been successfully negotiated with the Government of Canada to settle two class actions alleging systemic discrimination in the government's funding and provision of child and family, and other services dating back to 1991.
“This Agreement-in-Principle is the beginning of addressing the systemic racism and systemic barriers faced by First Nations families and children for generations. We’ve worked tirelessly in these ongoing negotiations with Canada to reform the chronic and discriminatory underfunding of First Nations Child and Family Services and Jordan’s Principle. It is our intent to ensure First Nations children and families are happy, healthy and supported for years to come,” said Ontario Regional Chief Glen Hare.
“As Ontario Regional Chief, the health and well-being of First Nations children and families remain of top priority, and we will continue our advocacy efforts to ensure our citizens are no longer subject to a system designed to assimilate First Nations.”
The Agreement-in-Principle is the first stage in a two-stage process for the negotiation of a final settlement resolution scheduled to be completed by March 31, 2022.
The settlement will resolve longstanding litigation at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and related class actions. It includes $20 billion for those harmed by Canada’s discriminatory practices, and $20 billion for reforming the First Nations child welfare system and implementing Jordan’s Principle to address the discrimination found by the CHRT.
The agreement-in-principle covers several hundred thousand First Nations children and family members, comprised of the following groups:
- Children living on reserves or in the Yukon who were removed from their homes and placed in out-of-home care at any time from April 1, 1991 to the present.
- Children who suffered discrimination by being deprived of timely essential public services and products due to the Government's failure to respect a child-first principle now known as "Jordan's Principle." These children suffered denials, delays or gaps in obtaining essential public services or products from April 1, 1991 to Nov. 2, 2017. Jordan's Principle is named after Jordan River Anderson, who passed away in hospital in 2005 while the federal and provincial governments disputed over who should pay for his care in home.
- Certain primary caregivers of the children described above.
“Today’s announcement brings us one step closer to addressing discrimination in child welfare and achieving substantive equality for First Nations children. It also marks the beginning of an important journey to ensure all First Nations have a solid foundation for moving forward and improving quality of life for future generations,” said grand chief Joel Abram.
“On behalf of the leadership council, we call upon the government of Canada, and all Canadians, to see this through.”
The class actions allege that Canada's discriminatory under-funding caused an epidemic of children being removed from their homes and placed into state care. As noted by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, in recent years there have been approximately three times the number of First Nations children in care than there were in Residential Schools at their height in the 1940s.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, following a years-long hearing, found Canada's widespread under-funding, resulting in the removal of First Nations children living on reserves from their homes, to be wilful discrimination that warrants substantial compensation to each child and their primary caregivers from 2006 until the present.
The Tribunal also found Canada's breach of its duties under Jordan's Principle to be wilful discrimination warranting compensation to each affected child and their families from 2007 until 2017. Canada's application to the Federal Court earlier this year in which it sought to challenge the compensation component of those findings was unsuccessful.
During the past 13 months, the plaintiffs have negotiated under the guidance of the Honourable Leonard S. Mandamin, a retired judge of the Federal Court and Anishinaabe member of the Wikwemikong First Nation, and, more recently, the Honourable Murray Sinclair, past Chief Commissioner of the TRC.
The amount to be paid to each individual, and when and how it will be paid, will be determined at a later date in consultation with experts, the Assembly of First Nations, and other stakeholders.
“We really have to work with our First Nation communities and partners as well by releasing the $20 billion settlement packages to individuals that were in the system. Because we know and we heard from our First Nation communities that it may be irresponsible for giving,” said NAN grand chief Bobby Narcisse.
“I know some of our members are products of residential schools so we recognize that by introducing this amount of money may be irresponsible, it may even cause more trouble or deaths to people who were in the child and family services system.”
The final settlement agreement will be subject to review and approval by the Federal Court in a public hearing to be announced in the coming months. Until the Federal Court has approved the settlement, it is not possible to determine the amounts to which each individual is entitled.
Narcisse says that NAN wants to work with its members and leadership to determine how best to distribute the packages either through direct compensation or by the provision of services to affected communities.
