Manitoba OKs $530M settlement after judge found province improperly kept money from children in care
Katrena Jack remembers choosing her new glasses from the cheap section, like other kids in Child and Family Services care, and then not being able to get new ones when they broke.
"There's a couple times where … I just kind of had to fix my glasses as best as I could," she said Monday. "I used electrical tape and su‐ per glue a lot."
Now the province of Mani‐ toba has agreed to pay out more than $500 million after a judge found the govern‐ ment improperly withheld federal money intended for children in care like Jack.
The "historic settlement is a significant step forward in rectifying the discrimination endured by vulnerable chil‐ dren in care," a joint news re‐ lease from the government and plaintiffs said Monday.
"This is a strong message for all governments across Canada in regard to the rights of children," said Trudy Lavallee, one of the named plaintiffs in the case.
"Quit discriminating against the most vulnerable kids," said Elsie Flette, anoth‐ er of the plaintiffs.
Similar lawsuits are un‐ derway in Saskatchewan and Alberta.
The province has agreed in principle to pay $530 mil‐ lion after three class-action lawsuits were filed by Child and Family Services agencies. The deal is subject to court approval.
In 2022, a Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench judge ruled Manitoba's decision to order CFS agencies to give the money from the federal chil‐ dren's special allowance (CSA) to the province, which occurred from 2005 to 2019, was unconstitutional and dis‐ criminatory against Indige‐ nous and disabled children.
'Terrible loss of opportu‐ nity'
It's estimated the province, which had argued it was entitled to the funds be‐ cause it was paying for the children's care, improperly took more than $334 million - including $251 million from Indigenous CFS agencies - in benefits.
Flette was executive direc‐ tor of the southern Manitoba children's welfare authority when the former NDP gov‐ ernment started clawing back the federal children's al‐ lowance. It was meant to en‐ sure children in care get the same federal funding that other children get through the Canada child benefit and child disability benefit.
The funds could have helped pay for activities such as sports or travel to visit family or participate in cere‐ monial activities, Flette and her lawyer said Monday.
Jack, now 23, says the money would have helped her pay for things like glasses or sports she couldn't afford.
"Growing up, I loved to dance and I loved sports, and it was choose one or the oth‐ er, so I I chose to go with dance. It's just you couldn't do all the activities you wan‐ ted to do," she said.
"It makes me quite happy hearing that we all finally get paid out on the opportunities that we missed out on while we were growing up in care."
"This settlement repre‐ sents a significant victory, un‐ equivocally holding the province accountable for its unjust targeting of vulnerable children," Grand Chief Cathy Merrick of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs said in a statement.
Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak called the agreement long overdue.
"Finally, First Nations chil‐ dren in the care of the CFS system who were denied a benefit by the government will be compensated not just for the loss of benefits they were rightfully entitled to but for the terrible loss of oppor‐ tunity the CSA was intended to provide," Grand Chief Gar‐ rison Settee said in a state‐ ment.
Resolution fund
The settlement will com‐ pensate every child affected by the province's actions, in‐ cluding interest and addition‐ al money for other damages and costs, through the cre‐ ation of a resolution fund, the news release says. The funds will also cover legal fees.
The province previously argued it deserved the mon‐ ey since it was paying the cost of looking after the chil‐ dren.
The clawback started in 2005 under the NDP govern‐ ment. The Progressive Con‐ servatives, elected in 2016, ended the practice after three years, and in 2020 tried to ban any legal challenge against Manitoba. A judge struck down that section of the law.
The former PC govern‐ ment decided last year not to appeal the ruling that it had improperly withheld the money.
Nahanni Fontaine, the current NDP government's families minister, acknowl‐ edged the province is right‐ ing the mistake of previous NDP and PC administrations.
"What was done previous‐ ly in respect of the CSA dol‐ lars that were supposed to go directly to children in care was not a good thing," she said, after an unrelated news conference.
"Our government upon coming in that was my No.1 priority, was to make sure that we entered into negotia‐ tions in a good way."
David Chartrand, presi‐ dent of the Manitoba Métis Federation, called the settle‐ ment a victory for the chil‐ dren.
"The MMF will do what it takes to ensure that every child who is eligible for this settlement receives every penny they are owed," he said in a news release.
Jack isn't fully set on what she will use the money she receives for, but she has some ideas.
"The ideas I have with money from settlements is making sure that I'm taking care of myself. I want to en‐ sure I have a stable home," she said. "I'd like to buy a house. I'd like to buy a truck."
"I'd like to eventually go back to school and take the support worker programs and work with youth who have also been in the CFS system."