Ottawa asks court to review human rights ruling on Indigenous kids

Health minister seeks clarity from Federal Court on two specific aspects of decision

Ottawa is asking the Federal Court to “review” two items in the latest Human Rights Tribunal ruling that said Canada was still discriminating against Indigenous children over the delivery of services.

After a lengthy legal fight, the tribunal ruled in January 2016 that Cana- da was breaking the law by not making equitable health and social services payments to Indigenous children living on reserves.

A series of non-compliance orders from the tribunal has been issued to the federal government for failure to abide by the ruling.

The last one was issued at the end of May.

Health Minister Jane Philpott said they are seeking clarity from the Federal Court on two specific aspects of the ruling: that requests for services must be processed within 12 to 48 hours, and that they be processed without case-conferencing.

“We fundamentally agree with the intents and principles behind the (CHRT) decision and are absolutely committed to addressing these issues,” Philpott said. “There are two small pieces of the decision we are concerned about and just wanted to go back to them and get some clarification on them because there was some concern as to possibly whether or not their recommendations would be in the best interests of First Nations kids.”

Philpott denied it was an appeal, calling it a review of two aspects of it.

“I think it is technically considered a review of the decision but not the entire decision, just two points in the decision,” she said.

On May 26 the tribunal slammed the government’s slow reaction to their January 2016 ruling, saying it squandered “any chance of preventing” the deaths of two Wapekeka First Nations girls, Jolynn Winter, 12, and Chantell Fox, 12.

The two took their lives in early January.

Their remote, fly-in community is in desperate need of mental health supports for youth.

As for the 48-hour time frame, Philpott said decisions in the vast majority of cases can be made during that span.

“There are some cases where it could be potentially dangerous, unsafe or unwise in making a decision too quickly, a certain amount of clarity needs to be sorted out to make sure it’s in the best interest of kids that a rapid decision is not the wrong decision,” she said.