Cindy Blackstock asks Human Rights Tribunal to renegotiate $20B child welfare compensation deal
CBCJan 08, 2014
In a decision made public on Tuesday, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) rejected a CAD$40B agreement to compensate Indigenous children who reportedly faced discrimination in the welfare system, citing concerns that the deal doesn't go far enough.
The CHRT said the deal with the Assembly of First Nations — which set aside CAD$20B for individual compensation and CAD$20B for on-reserve welfare reform — excludes children removed from their homes and placed in non-federally funded placements and the estates of deceased caregivers.
While, in the short-term, this is a disappointing outcome, it's a necessary one. The subpar agreement negligently excluded a vast number of individuals and is nothing more than a caricature of reconciliation. Rather than accepting this short-changed deal, the CHRT has rightly sent it back.
Under the guise of advocating for First Nations people, the CHRT has deemed the agreement insufficient and delayed much-needed compensation for over 300k Indigenous Canadians who were counting on this settlement — an ironic ruling considering the deal was put together by First Nations people themselves.