Internal review into Indigenous Services Canada should be public, advocate says
Ottawa will open the department of Indigenous Services up for a review to identify ways it discriminates against First Nations children.
The work will happen as part of a $40-billion agreement-in-principle reached last December between the federal Liberal government and groups including the
Assembly of First Nations, Chiefs of Ontario and lawyers for two related class-action lawsuits.
The arrangement will see Ottawa pay $20 billion in compensation to First Nations children who were harmed by chronic underfunding of child and family services on-reserve.
Another $20 billion has been earmarked to reform the system over the next five years, with some measures set to take effect as of Friday.
A public notice on the federal government’s procurement website says it has chosen the University of Ottawa to conduct the internal review, which will cost $750,000.
A department spokeswoman says this is the first time such a review will be done of the federal department since its creation in 2017 when Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada was split into two departments: Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations.
“An expert advisory committee will guide the evaluation process and develop a work plan that will include actions to identify and redress internal departmental processes, procedures and practices to prevent any recurrence of discriminatory policies and procedures against First Nations children,” Jennifer Cooper wrote in a statement.
“As negotiations toward a final settlement agreement remain ongoing, we cannot provide any more details at this time. ”
The parties were working toward a deadline of March 31 to finalize the compensation deal, which would include details around access and eligibility.
Cooper declined to say whether the probe will be made public.
But Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, which is among parties in discussions about long-term reforms, believes it must.
“This is part of reconciliation,” she said.