(Ottawa) A new step has been taken in the process of compensating First Nations children and their families who have been harmed by the discriminatory and chronic underfunding of children’s services: an agreement worth 20 billion has just been signed between the federal government and the class action plaintiffs.
Updated yesterday at 7:40 p.m.
The final compensation settlement agreement between the Government of Canada, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the plaintiffs in two class actions, which was signed on Monday, will have to be validated by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal , then submitted to the Federal Court of Canada for approval.
The pact provides for the payment of $20 billion to tens of thousands of Indigenous children who lived on reserves in certain provinces and the Yukon, and who were removed from their homes between April 1991 and March 2022 and then knowingly received services under -funded by the federal government.
It seals an agreement in principle that was reached last January, and it is also part of a global settlement totaling $40 billion. The other half of the envelope will be used to lay the foundations for a five-year reform of child services in Aboriginal communities across the country.
“This final settlement agreement is an important step towards acknowledging the harm done and beginning the hard work of healing,” Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said in a statement, noting that “no compensation” will can heal pain and trauma.
PHOTO FROM THE MANITOBA ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS WEBSITE
The Chief of the Assembly of First Nations of Manitoba, Cindy Woodhouse, said she was proud of this “historic turning point”.
“First Nations children have always deserved to be treated fairly and equitably, and this settlement recognizes that was neither the policy nor the practice,” said Cindy Woodhouse, Regional Chief for Manitoba. of the APN.
There are far more placements of Aboriginal children than non-Aboriginal children in the country. Figures from the 2016 census show that less than 8% of children under the age of 15 were Indigenous, but they accounted for 15% of all children in foster care.
Decades of legal battle
The agreement initialed on Monday, which the AFN describes as “historic compensation”, brings to an end a legal saga that has spanned some three decades. It is also the fruit of several months of negotiations which have always been considered “fragile” by the Liberals.
The Trudeau government had come under harsh criticism from several Indigenous groups for its decision to appeal a 2019 judgment by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which set the amount to be paid to each of the injured children at $40,000. – the maximum he could grant.
Last October, while appealing a Federal Court decision upholding the order, the government launched negotiations under the supervision of retired Senator Murray Sinclair, who chaired the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on native boarding schools.
The distribution of the 20 billion remains to be determined according to the number of victims who will come forward, and therefore, it is difficult to establish their number, especially since parents and guardians are eligible for compensation.
The amount each receives will depend on a variety of factors, including the severity of the abuse.
“We will review the agreement to ensure that the children and families entitled to the $40,000 under the court order get […] this amount,” responded Cindy Blackstock of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society on Twitter on Monday.
“Jordan’s Principle”
At the same time, the agreement puts an end to a dispute affecting children penalized by the federal government’s narrow definition of “Jordan’s principle”. He wants an Aboriginal child to receive the services he needs when there is a jurisdictional dispute between Ottawa and the provinces.
It was named in memory of Jordan River Anderson of Norway House Cree Nation, Manitoba.
“Born with complex medical needs, he spent more than two years unnecessarily in hospital while the Province of Manitoba and the federal government argued over who should pay for his care at home. Jordan died in hospital at the age of 5, never was he able to spend a day in his family home,” reads the website of the Child and Family Caring Society. of First Nations.
With The Canadian Press