FSIN asks federal government to withdraw child welfare appeal

SASKATOON The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) executive is calling on the federal government to withdraw its appeal of a decision to compensate families affected by the on-reserve welfare system.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruled in September that there was clear discrimination by the federal government, saying it “wilfully and recklessly” discriminated against Indigenous children living on reserves by not providing anywhere near the funding non-indigenous children received for child welfare services.

It ordered the government to pay more than $2 billion and awarded $40,000 — the maximum damages — for each child taken away under a list of circumstances.

Indigenous leaders in Saskatchewan have called the decision the first of many steps toward healing broken First Nations families in the province. The government filed a notice of application with the federal court in October, asking for a judicial review of the tribunal’s ruling. FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron called the appeal “a step back.” He drew on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s history of reconciliation efforts and appealed to him directly.

Cameron said the families he’s spoken with were hoping to use the money to invest in the future and are upset that the fate of the compensation is up in the air.

“It’s not about just getting money for the sake of getting money,” Cameron said. “We would invest it in our children and grandchildren, that’s why we want it.”

Indigenous leaders say the system had more Indigenous kids living in foster care than at the height of the residential schools era. The Assembly of First Nations has said as many as 54,000 people could be eligible for the compensation.