The Canadian government and the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) have announced that a final settlement has been reached to compensate Indigenous children who have been discriminated against for years in the delivery of government services. Canada said in a statement Monday that the $15.55 billion (C$20 billion) deal marks the largest settlement agreement in the country’s history. It still needs to be approved by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and the Federal Court of Canada. “After three decades of advocacy and months of negotiations, AFN is pleased to have reached the terms of this historic compensation agreement for our children and families,” AFN Manitoba Regional Chief Cindy Woodhouse said in the statement. “First Nations children have always deserved to be treated fairly and equitably and this $20 billion compensation settlement recognizes that this was not the policy nor the practice.” Indigenous leaders and community advocates have fought to get Canada to comply with a 2016 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling that found the federal government had discriminated against Indigenous people in providing services for children and families. That discrimination pushed more Indigenous children into foster care, said the court, which ordered Canada to pay each affected child $31,094 ($40,000 CAD), the maximum allowed under the Canadian Human Rights Act. According to census data, just over 52 percent of children in foster care in 2016 were Indigenous, while Indigenous children made up just 7.7 percent of the nation’s total child population. Canada has admitted that its systems discriminated, but has repeatedly paid orders to pay reparations and fund reforms. Among others, children who were removed from their homes between April 1991 and the end of March 2022 under the First Nations Child and Family Services program will be eligible for compensation, the government said. “While this is an important and necessary step forward in compensating those affected by discriminatory funding practices, it comes at the cost of tremendous pain and suffering,” said Marc Miller, Canada’s minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, in the statement Monday. “I hope this compensation agreement will bring us closer to a future where all First Nations children can grow and thrive with their families and communities as we continue to work with partners to reform services for the children and the family”. Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, which filed the complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, said the group will review the agreement to ensure it meets the court’s orders. “The Caring Society believes that Canada should immediately pay human rights compensation to the victims and withdraw their appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal,” Blackstock tweeted. “The Caring Society is not a party to the final compensation agreement nor do we seek any benefit related to the compensation. We just want to make sure that the rights of victims of human rights abuses are respected.” We are just learning about the compensation agreement between the class counsel and Canada. We will look to ensure that children and families who are entitled to 40,000 per court order receive this minimum amount and the support they are entitled to. 1/3 — Cindy Blackstock (@cblackst) July 4, 2022
