Government Rules on Indigenous Compensation

ADRIAN WYLD/THE CANADIAN PRESS

For 14 years, the federal government has been in a legal battle over First Nations Child Welfare. Now, the question remains whether or not the First Nations will be given compensation for the mistreatment they were forced to endure in the immoral system. 

The fight first began back in 2007, when Dr. Cindy Blackstock, a professor at the University of Alberta, filed an official complaint with the federal government on behalf of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations. She wrote in the complaint that First Nations children were heavily discriminated against, and demanded that the federal government be held responsible for the mistreatment of 163,000 Indigenous children who were in a corrupted welfare system. 

A major court case was started because of it, but it has been delayed for more than a decade, mostly due to delays caused by the federal government. 

On January 26, 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, or CHRT, a quasi-judicial body less formal than a court of law that only hears cases relating to discrimation under the Canadian Human Rights Act, ruled in the plaintiff’s favour. This meant that they deemed that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children in the welfare system, and called them out for violating Jordan’s Principle. 

According to the First Nations Family and Caring Society of Canada, Jordan’s Principle is a policy that states that all First Nations children, whether they live on or off reserves, have the right to receive equitable public services.

Then, on September 19, 2019, the CHRT ordered that the government also give out compensation of $40 000 dollars, the maximum amount allowed by the Canadian Human Rights Act, to every First Nations child, or their family, that was affected by the discrimination. 

Cindy Blackstock rejoiced upon hearing the decision, as she explained in CBC’s Power and Politics program, “This is a complete win for kids. Now, the question becomes: will the federal government put down its sword and stop fighting First Nations children and treat them equally. It would be the first time in the history of the country if they ended their discrimination in federally funded public services.” 

Although content in the ruling, Blackstock was still wary about it sticking, saying “[The federal government’s] past behavior [suggests] that they will appeal it.

 Blackstock was in fact right, as the government soon after admitted their wrongdoings, they claimed that the compensation order was an “overreach of jurisdiction.” They then made the decision to appeal the court order, and they also asked for a judicial review by the Federal Court of appeal to investigate the compensation order.

A judicial review is a process where courts reevaluate the decision of an administrative body, and make sure that the reasons the choice was made were justified and lawful. 

There is still a chance that the government will decide to stop their appeal on the decision, though. If they were to, the compensation would be guaranteed, and the government would be on the hook to pay billions of dollars to nearly 50,000 Indigenous children. 

The federal government’s reason to appeal the court was because of problems they had with the flat $40 000 a person got. They argued that it was unfair that every person got the same amount of money, even if one person had been in the system for a month, while the other was in it for multiple years. 

After the findings of 215 Indigenous children’s remains outside an old Kamloops residential school building in March of 2021, the case was dragged into court yet again, where the battle ensued. It ended with the government agreeing to try to negotiate a settlement with the First Nations people. 

 The negotiations started up on November 1, and all court cases have been paused as the two parties have been trying to strike a deal between each other. However, if the issue is not resolved by December 2021, the Canadian government will go on with their appeal against the CHRT mandate. 

Although the issue has yet to be resolved, there is still hope that the two parties will soon see eye to eye, and that the First Nations peoples will get the justice they deserve.

As December 14, the federal government has announced it is setting aside $40 billion for compensation for Indigenous children and welfare reform.