(OTTAWA) First Nations leaders on Tuesday approved a revised multibillion-dollar settlement for children and their loved ones affected by federal underfunding of child and family services on reserve.
Gathering this week in Ottawa for a special assembly of the Assembly of First Nations on the “UN Declaration National Action Plan,” the chiefs also passed a motion Tuesday morning in support of the new accord.
This proposal notably provides for an additional 3 billion from Ottawa, which brings the total compensation to victims to 23 billion.
In 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered the federal government to pay $40,000 in compensation to every First Nations child and family who had been unjustly separated due to underfunding of child welfare in the reserves, which gave rise to two collective actions.
The federal government began negotiating with the Assembly of First Nations in 2021 to settle the lawsuits. He finally agreed to devote 20 billion to reform the child protection system and to pay 20 billion in compensation.
But the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal rejected the proposed settlement last year. In particular, the court was concerned that not all claimants would receive the $40,000 promised by Ottawa in compensation.
As chiefs met this week in Ottawa for another matter, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) announced that a revised settlement had been reached. This new proposed settlement would include 13,000 more children and other changes that the AFN said would address the court’s concerns.
The new settlement proposal, now endorsed by the Chiefs, will be resubmitted to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal for approval.
The leaders gathered in Ottawa also called on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to issue a “formal and meaningful” apology to the complainants and victims of these injustices.