The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has approved an $8.5-billion agreement that will give First Nations in Ontario authority to lead their own children and family services in a long-term deal with the federal government.
This is the first regional agreement to be finalized in a 20-year battle for equitable child welfare services for First Nations across the country. The fight started in 2006 when the First Nations Caring Society argued the federal government was discriminating against Indigenous children by underfunding them.
“First Nations in Ontario are ready, and they have chosen to exercise their right to self-determination by requesting this agreement,” read a letter from the tribunal dated Monday.
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In its expedited decision, the tribunal emphasized that First Nations have always been the best option to care for their own children.
“The concept of the ‘best interests of the child’ has too often been used to justify oppression, removal, and control, while imposing non-Indigenous perspectives on Indigenous Peoples,” read the decision.
“For this reason, the Tribunal has consistently emphasized that the best interests of the child must be understood and applied through an Indigenous lens to avoid repeating history.”
The tribunal went on to say that the “unnecessary” removal of children from their families and communities qualified as the “worst harm.”
The agreement includes funding for capital, support for children once they reach the age of majority, and prevention efforts. The deal also includes $258-million for housing infrastructure designed to keep children safe in their own homes, the minister said.
In 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal sided with the First Nations Caring Society and ordered the government to end its discrimination against First Nations children and families. The parties have since negotiated a $23-billion compensation package for 300,000 First Nations children and adults across the country that began to roll out last year.
Ontario First Nations leadersin 2024 pushed Assembly of First Nations chiefs to accept a $48-billion offer to reform child welfare services, negotiated by the AFN, Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and Indigenous Services Canada, on behalf of all First Nations. Ultimately the AFN chiefs rejected the offer, holding out for a larger investment and a clearer commitment. The Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation then moved forward with their own negotiations.
Minister of Indigenous Services Mandy Gull-Masty said in a press release Monday the Ontario agreement “will support First Nations in exercising their right to care for their own children – by strengthening prevention-focused services, supporting families, and enabling communities to design and deliver programs rooted in their own laws, cultures, languages, and priorities.”
The tribunal said the agreement satisfies its order to end Canada’s discrimination against First Nations children and families by giving control and jurisdiction to the First Nations in Ontario.
Nishnawbe Aski Nation Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler said in a press conference in Toronto that the agreement includes a new funding formula to determine specific costs for child welfare service delivery in the remote north.
“We want to also apply that to education and health and capital,” Mr. Fiddler said.
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak of the AFN commended the Ontario leaders for their work to ensure “funding matches the economic realities of First Nations in remote areas.”
The national organization called on Canada “to make the same commitment and to work with any region that chooses to pursue a regional path to long-term reform, and to resume the work towards a national agreement. We also hope to see the OFA funding flow swiftly and without delay.”
Cindy Blackstock of the First Nations Caring Society said the decision preserves the order that Canada permanently stop its discrimination against First Nations children.
She wants the tribunal to approve a plan submitted by the Caring Society and the National Children’s Chiefs Commission late last year. Indigenous Services Canada has also submitted its own plan, which Ms. Blackstock calls too bureaucratic with no First Nations input.
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At the same press conference, Grand Chief Joel Abram of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians said the agreement allows First Nations to move “from a system of crisis to a system of care.”
He said the work to implement the agreement means supporting First Nations and agencies to develop plans and finalize infrastructure investment “to ensure our families have safe and functional spaces.”
In the press conference in Toronto on Monday, young Indigenous leaders reminded the Ontario chiefs and communities of the work ahead.
“It’s our responsibility now, it is in your hands to carry and uphold the responsibility to protect your children to ensure families have the environment to thrive,” said Kohen Mattinas, a member of the Oshkaatisak Youth Council from Thunder Bay.
“Today marks a step towards healing the child and the parent and breaking cycles to ensure that we raise happy and healthy families, healthy and happy children together.”
