Question Period Note: Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

• We are committed to addressing the long-standing needs of First Nations children. We have significantly increased the funding for the First Nation Child and Family Services Program, almost doubling it to $1.2 billion in 2018-2019. We have recently passed legislation affirming Indigenous peoples’ jurisdiction over child and family services.
• We believe that the recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision on individual compensation does not properly address all issues around appropriate compensation.
• We are committed to seeking an equitable, fair and comprehensive settlement on compensation that will ensure long-term benefits for individuals and families and enable community healing.

In January 2018, the Government of Canada hosted an Emergency Meeting on Indigenous Child and Family Services, with national and regional Indigenous leadership, as well as federal, provincial and territorial governments, to discuss the causes that lead to the high rate of Indigenous children in care and how to work together toward systemic reform. At that meeting, the Government announced its commitment to six points of action that included continuing to fully implement previous CHRT orders (from 2016 and prior to September 2019); reform First Nations child and family services including moving to a flexible funding model; and work with partners to shift the focus of programming to culturally-appropriate prevention, early intervention, and family reunification.
On September 6, 2019, the CHRT released an order on compensation. The Tribunal ordered Canada to pay the maximum amount of $40,000 ($20,000 for pain and suffering and $20,000 for wilful and reckless conduct) per child and parent or grandparent. Canada is required to report back to the Tribunal by December 10, 2019, on a compensation process agreed to by the complainants. On October 4, 2019 the Attorney General of Canada filed a Notice of Application for Judicial Review and a Motion to stay with the Federal Court. The compensation ruling remains in effect unless it is stayed by the Federal Court. A decision on the application for judicial review is not expected until March 2020 at the earliest.
There are four orders to come from the CHRT on the following issues: 1) major capital; 2) band representative services actual costs; 3) small agencies; and 4) the definition of a First Nations child for the purposes of Jordan’s Principle.

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