A CONTINUING FIGHT FOR JUSTICE
Jan. 26, 2016: The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rules Ottawa racially discriminated against children on reserves by spending less on child welfare. It calls Ottawa’s funding formula outdated and flawed.
The ruling also orders implementation of “Jordan’s Principle”: care for the child first, fight over who should pay later. Passed by Parliament in 2007, it was named for Jordan River Anderson, a Cree child who died in hospital at age 5 while Manitoba and Ottawa fought over his care. The ruling says Ottawa wrongly applied the principle so narrowly that it loses all value.
The commission says the First Nations Child & Family Caring Society, the co-complainant, asked Ottawa for $20,000 in compensation for each child removed from his or her family after 2006.
(The society also seeks $200 million a year for child welfare agencies to level the playing field.)
The ruling, in a case launched while the Conservatives were in power, comes as a test of Liberal promises. In the campaign, Justin Trudeau promised a “nation to nation” relationship with First Nations, implying an important legal concept of equality. March 10: The government files its submission on the tribunal’s first requirement — steps for “immediate” relief. While committing to “full-scale reform of the child welfare program,” the submission does not commit to immediate changes, which it says could include increases per child. The submission commits to re-establishing the National Advisory Committee to oversee policy, to be chaired by the Assembly of First Nations and the Indigenous Affairs Ministry.
It says it’s committed to reform “in a manner that respects the authority of Parliament.” It suggests two to three months are needed to develop broader reforms, working with other parties. March 15: In advance of the official Caring Society response on immediate relief, Blackstock tells the Star the federal response “uses non-binding qualifiers and does not appear to take account of the fact that they are subject to a binding order from the tribunal to cease the discrimination.” March 22: The Liberal budget allots $8.4 billion over five years to First Nations to bring about “transformational change.” Of this, $2.6 billion goes to improving education on reserves; $965 million to school infrastructure; $635 million to child and family services programs.
Perry Bellegarde, national chief of the AFN (co-complainant in the human rights case), calls it a “significant first step.” Blackstock says the budget falls “far short” of what is required to meet the human rights ruling. The annual infusion of money for child welfare services should be $200 million, she says, adding that much of the money is delayed for years. March 31: Deadline for submissions to the tribunal on immediate relief measures from Caring Society and AFN.