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| Canada underfunded welfare services for indigenous children, panel rules | Canada underfunded welfare services for indigenous children, panel rules |
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| Canada discriminated against aboriginal children by underfunding welfare services on reserves, a human rights tribunal has ruled, in a decision that could affect the way Ottawa funds education, health and housing for indigenous Canadians. | Canada discriminated against aboriginal children by underfunding welfare services on reserves, a human rights tribunal has ruled, in a decision that could affect the way Ottawa funds education, health and housing for indigenous Canadians. |
| The ruling comes nearly nine years after aboriginal groups opened a human rights complaint against Ottawa over its funding formula for child welfare on reserves, and adds to a litany of problems in the relationship between the country’s 1.4 million aboriginals and the federal government. | |
| Related: Canada’s First Nations helped Trudeau win. Now can he give them justice? | Jasmine Andersson | Related: Canada’s First Nations helped Trudeau win. Now can he give them justice? | Jasmine Andersson |
| Justin Trudeau, the prime minister who took office in November, has pledged to repair relations with Canada’s indigenous people, who make up 5% of the population but represent about half of the more than 30,000 Canadian children aged 14 and under living in foster care. | Justin Trudeau, the prime minister who took office in November, has pledged to repair relations with Canada’s indigenous people, who make up 5% of the population but represent about half of the more than 30,000 Canadian children aged 14 and under living in foster care. |
| Aboriginals also have higher levels of poverty and a lower life expectancy than other Canadians, and are more often victims of violent crime, addiction and incarceration. | Aboriginals also have higher levels of poverty and a lower life expectancy than other Canadians, and are more often victims of violent crime, addiction and incarceration. |
| The crisis on indigenous reserves was highlighted last week by a school shooting in the remote northern Saskatchewan community of La Loche. A 17-year-old boy has been charged in connection with the deaths of four people. | |
| The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations, an umbrella group for Canada’s largest indigenous group, charged that Ottawa was underfunding child welfare services on reserves compared with what is spent on non-native children or aboriginals living off reserve. | The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations, an umbrella group for Canada’s largest indigenous group, charged that Ottawa was underfunding child welfare services on reserves compared with what is spent on non-native children or aboriginals living off reserve. |
| In its decision, the panel said Ottawa needed to make changes not only to its funding, but to the child welfare program itself “to respect human rights principles and sound social work practice”. | In its decision, the panel said Ottawa needed to make changes not only to its funding, but to the child welfare program itself “to respect human rights principles and sound social work practice”. |
| “The Panel acknowledges the suffering of those First Nations children and families who are or have been denied an equitable opportunity to remain together or to be reunited in a timely manner,” the decision said. | “The Panel acknowledges the suffering of those First Nations children and families who are or have been denied an equitable opportunity to remain together or to be reunited in a timely manner,” the decision said. |
| The government is expected to comment on the ruling later in the morning. | The government is expected to comment on the ruling later in the morning. |
| Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the Family Caring Society, called the decision a “great day for First Nations children and all Canadians who believe in justice and fairness”. | Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the Family Caring Society, called the decision a “great day for First Nations children and all Canadians who believe in justice and fairness”. |
| Previously, a review commissioned by Ottawa found a child welfare funding shortfall on reserves of about 22%. | Previously, a review commissioned by Ottawa found a child welfare funding shortfall on reserves of about 22%. |
| Ottawa is responsible for funding child welfare services for aboriginal children on reserves, including costs related to care of children removed from their parent’s custody. Individual provinces fund child welfare services for non-native children and native children who do not live on reserves, creating a two-tiered funding system. | Ottawa is responsible for funding child welfare services for aboriginal children on reserves, including costs related to care of children removed from their parent’s custody. Individual provinces fund child welfare services for non-native children and native children who do not live on reserves, creating a two-tiered funding system. |