The federal government has reached a revised final settlement agreement with several indigenous organizations that will see Ottawa pay more than $23 billion to compensate First Nations children and families affected by underfunding in the child welfare programs.
“First Nations children and families will be compensated for the harms they faced from discriminatory funding and programs,” Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said in an April 5
press release.
Hajdu added during a
press conference on the same day that all individuals previously affected by government underfunding of the First Nations Child and Family Services program will receive $40,000 each at a minimum, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
The federal government
also says individuals affected by Ottawa’s previously “narrow definition” of Jordan’s Principle will also be eligible to receive the compensation.
The principle is meant to prevent First Nations children from “being denied essential public services or experiencing delays in receiving them” when there is a jurisdictional dispute involving their care. Under this principle, the government department of first contact is to pay for the service. It then can seek reimbursement from the other department or other level of government as appropriate after the child has received the service.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal had in 2021 ordered Ottawa to compensate all children and families who had been denied service or faced delays.
At the April 5 press conference, Hajdu said that “no amount of money can make people whole” but that the compensation “is an important piece of healing because it’s acknowledgement of the discrimination.”
The revised settlement agreement totalling just over $23.34 billion in compensation is more than $3.3 billion above the original agreement reached in
July 2022.
Increased Compensation
Reporters asked Hajdu whether the federal government is prepared to provide further funding in the future for long-term reform of the First Nations child welfare program.
“The short answer is that we’re prepared to see the long-term reform be concluded, essentially,” said Hajdu, adding that she is “less focused on the ultimate cost of the long-term reform” than on “getting to the goals of the long-term reform, which is to make sure that children don’t fall through the cracks.”
“Obviously we have a number of experts helping us to figure out what that looks like and what the costs could be,” she added.
Hajdu also said she will “remain open throughout the process” to ensuring that the federal government has sufficient financial resources to achieve the goal.
The government’s allocation of over $23 billion to compensate First Nations children and families is more than $8 billion higher than what the parliamentary budget officer (PBO) estimated it would cost in a
report two years ago.
The PBO estimated in February 2021 that the total cost could reach $15 billion.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
