From CTV.ca

Ottawa loses another bid to keep First Nations child-welfare case out of courts

The Canadian Press - Mar. 11, 2013 

OTTAWA - The federal government has suffered another blow in its bid to keep a high-stakes battle over First Nations child welfare out of the courts.

The Federal Court of Appeal has sided with First Nations child-rights advocates who claim that Ottawa is short-changing native communities by under-funding child-welfare services.

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations launched a human-rights challenge that dates back to 2007.

But Ottawa has argued that the case should not be heard at all because it's not fair to compare federal programs with provincial programs.

Federal officials also say they have been putting more money into First Nations child welfare and reorienting their programs to focus on keeping families together.

After much wrangling and millions of dollars in legal fees, the Federal Court rejected the government's arguments, ordering a full hearing at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

The government appealed the Federal Court's decision. On Monday, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld the Federal Court's decision.

Ottawa still has the option of asking the Supreme Court of Canada to hear its appeal.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal began its hearings late last month.

Billions of dollars are at stake. If First Nations complainants win the case, Ottawa would likely be required to fund social services on reserves at the same level per capita as the provinces fund similar services off reserves.

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Press Release

Court rejects Ottawa's efforts to shut down hearings to decide if the Federal Government is discriminating against First Nations children

OTTAWA, March 11, 2013 /CNW/ - In a landmark decision released today, the Federal Court of Appeal rejected the Canadian Government's application to stop the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal from continuing hearings to determine if the Federal Government's provision of First Nations child and family services is discriminatory toward First Nations children and families. Originally filed in 2007 by the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, the case alleges that the Federal Government's flawed and inequitable levels of funding for First Nations child and family services is discriminatory. Ottawa has failed to implement multiple evidence based solutions to address the problem even though government documents dating back nearly a decade link the inequity to growing numbers of First Nations children being placed in foster care. Since the case was filed, independent bodies like the Auditor General of Canada (2008, 2011) and the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (2012) have confirmed the inequity and yet the Government of Canada has spent over 3 million dollars on its repeated and unsuccessful efforts to derail hearings before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal instead of fixing the problem for children.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal began hearing evidence in this historic case on February 25, 2013 and this important ruling by the Federal Court of Appeal ensures that the Tribunal will have the opportunity to continue a "broad fact-based inquiry" to decide the case. The Government of Canada has 60 days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada. In the meantime, hearings before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal will resume in April and are expected to conclude in the summer of 2013. This case marks the first time that the Canadian Government's contemporary and systemic policies toward First Nations children have been under review by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal which has the power to make a legal determination of discrimination and order a binding remedy.

Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society says "We fully support the decision by the Federal Court of Appeal that the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal should decide such a vital case for First Nations children and for all Canadians on the basis of a full set of facts. We are confident that the evidence before the Tribunal will show that First Nations children and their families are not receiving equitable and culturally based services and we look forward to the Tribunal ordering the Canadian Government to remedy the discrimination."

SOURCE: FNCFCS

For further information:

Cindy Blackstock, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada cblackst@fncaringsociety.com or 613 230-5885

For more information on the case and to read the Federal Court of Appeal ruling go to www.fnwitness.ca and click on Timeline and Documents