Ottawa ordered to compensate First Nations children impacted by on-reserve child welfare system

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Perry Bellegarde,
left, and Cindy Blackstock, head of the First Nation Child and Family
Caring Society. The groups filed the original human rights complaint
that led to Friday's ruling. (Canadian Press)

Ottawa must pay potentially billions of dollars in compensation
to First Nations children harmed by the on-reserve child welfare
system, following a ruling Friday by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal
that also called for payments to some of their parents and
grandparents.

The tribunal ordered the federal government to
pay $40,000 to each child — the maximum allowed under the Canadian Human
Rights Act —  who was apprehended or taken from their homes on reserve,
no matter what the reason.

The
ruling covers all children in the care of the on-reserve child welfare
system at any point from Jan.1, 2006, to a date to be determined by the
tribunal.

'Racism, colonial practices and discrimination'

Cindy
Blackstock, who heads the First Nations Child and Family Caring
Society, said this latest ruling shows Ottawa learned little from what
happened in residential schools and during the Sixties Scoop era.

"They
knew better and did not do better resulting in tragedy for First
Nations children, families and [First] Nations," said Blackstock in a
statement.

"We must demand Canada stop its piecemeal approach to
remedying cross cutting inequalities in First Nations public
services by fully implementing the Spirit Bear plan to end all of the
inequalities once and for all."



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