The Canadian Human Rights Commission says Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) has four weeks from today, April 26, to provide a comprehensive report on how it will provide immediate relief to child and family services on reserve.
In a decision Jan. 26, the CHRT had ordered INAC to cease its discriminatory practices and reform the First Nations Child and Family Services Program. Now it says the department is not moving fast enough to implement the CHRT order, so the CHRT has issued new orders.
Three months after the decision, CHRT said there is “still uncertainty amongst the parties … as to how the Federal government’s response to the Decision addresses the findings regarding the shortcomings of Directive 20-1, which is underfunded and creates incentives to remove children from their homes and communities.
In 2008, when the human rights complaint was launched, the vast majority of First Nations Child and Family Services agencies in the country functioned under Directive 20-1. The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council’s Usma agency still does.
The CHRT also instructs Canada to fix the shortcomings in the Enhanced Prevention Focused Approach (EPFA), which it finds is inconsistent with current child welfare legislation and practices. Once provided to an agency, EPFA funding remains stagnant without adjustment for inflation, cost of living or for evolving service standards, reads today’s order from the CHRT panel.
Usma Nuu-chah-nulth had been left out of the EPFA funding since it was announced in 2007, as have all First Nations agencies in British Columbia. In this year’s federal budget it was announced that B.C. on-reserve agencies will finally see some prevention dollars to be used to keep children out of care in the first place.
The CHRT did commend the federal government on the funding identified in its budget over five years, including the $16.2 million for prevention funding in Ontario, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador and Yukon, saying it was encouraged by Canada’s efforts.
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council President Debra Foxcroft, however, has mixed feelings.
“Although, this is very good news and we appreciate the Federal government’s acknowledgement that Child and Family Services funding is inequitable, I wonder why it had to take this long for them to recognize this in the first place. Over the past several years there has been report after report identifying this issue, with recommendations to address these problems.”
“First Nations Service agencies in B.C. have been in crisis for a very, very long time. I want a commitment from government that this treatment of our children, the unjust treatment of our most vulnerable, children and youth, never happens again,” she told Ha-Shilth-Sa.
Because of the lapse of time between the Decision and this current call for immediate relief, the CHRT panel now says it will “supervise the implementation of its orders by way of regular detailed reports created by INAC.”
The reports will provide information on “budget allocations for each agency providing child protection services and timelines, the data used to calculate the amounts received in the last fiscal year, 2015/2016, and a detailed calculation of any adjustments made as a result of immediate action taken to address the Decision.
After INAC submits its report, and discussions with the complainants are held, the CHRT panel said it may issue a further ruling.
Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, along with the Assembly of First Nations, led the charge in bringing the federal government before the human rights tribunal. The complaint was that child and family services programs on reserve were systemically underfunded, and that Canada took a narrow view on their implementation of Jordan’s Principle.
The CHRT has also now ruled that Canada must “immediately implement” Jordan’s Principle in all “jurisdictional disputes, including between federal government departments,” and not only for children with multiple disabilities, but involving all First Nations children.
The intent of Jordan’s Principle is that the government organization first contacted for services to the child, should pay for the services to the child, with jurisdictional issues sorted out after the child receives the services, not before.
CHRT expects a report from INAC on implementation of Jordan’s Principle within two weeks.
“As of today, our children and families wait for the proper supports and cultural services they deserve and need on the ground right now,” said Foxcroft. “I am happy to hear we will be expecting some remedies to the immediate, short-term and long-term issues we’re facing. It is about time the voices for our children and families are finally being heard.”
“While the circumstances that led to the findings in the Decision are very disconcerting, the opportunity to address those findings through positive change is now present,” wrote Sophie Marchildon, the panel chairperson. “This is the season for change. The time is now.”
Foxcroft is heartened that, in the spirit of reconciliation, the government will finally put action to its words.
“I also believe strongly that the Ministry of Child and Family Development under the Provincial Government needs to follow and implement a reform and reconciliation process, since there is more than 50 per cent of our Aboriginal children in their care.”
