Current Problems: Child Welfare (1-5)
Exploring Theme: "Court Cases"
Updates on this page: 32
(Filtered by Indigenous Group "First Nations")
November 14, 2024
The Indian Boarding Home Class Action Claims Process is now open.
NationTalk: This settlement is in response to two legal actions (Superior Court of Quebec and Federal Court cases) filed on behalf of children who suffered harassment, abuse, loss of language and culture, and other harms as a result of their participation in the Indian Boarding Homes Program. Through the litigation, plaintiffs sought compensation, recognition, and...
November 14, 2024
Class action alleges abuse, cultural devastation in group homes
APTN News: The Canadian Press – A proposed class-action lawsuit against the Canadian government says Indigenous people removed from their communities and placed in group homes beginning in the 1950s suffered physical, sexual and psychological abuse that “was commonplace, condoned and, arguably, encouraged.” The Federal Court lawsuit filed this month in Vancouver says Indigenous children...
October 7, 2024
Certification hearing for lawsuit involving off reserve Indigenous children in care begins in B.C.
APTN News: A certification hearing is underway at the Supreme Court of British Columbia on a class action brought on behalf of all off-reserve Indigenous children in British Columbia who were removed from their homes and taken into care since 1992. Lawyers representing them say many were taken away from their culture, families and many were...
September 5, 2024
AMC Stands with First Nations Children as Historic $530 Million Settlement Case Begins
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) stands united with First Nations families and children as the final court proceedings commence on September 5, 2024, in the Children’s Special Allowance (CSA) class action lawsuit. This significant legal battle addresses the wrongful diversion of funds meant to support First Nations children...
July 16, 2024
Convicted of defrauding Indigenous youth, B.C. social worker earns full parole
Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the Ministry of Children and Family Development in B.C. Photo: APTN file APTN News: convicted fraudster who stole thousands of dollars from vulnerable Indigenous youth has been granted full parole. Convicted of misappropriating more than $460,000 in 2022, Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the...
July 9, 2024
Assembly of First Nations receives settlement offer to finalize reform of child welfare
National chief calls it ‘a fair offer that will benefit generations of children’ CBC Indigenous: The Assembly of First Nations has a draft settlement offer from the federal government to finalize long-term reform of First Nations child and family services, National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak announced Tuesday at the AFN’s annual general assembly in Montreal. “While this offer...
May 16, 2024
Mother, stepfather sentenced to 15 years in prison for horrific death of 6-year-old son
Hesquiat boy Dontay Lucas died in Port Alberni in 2018 of blunt-force trauma to the head WARNING: This story contains details of violence and child abuse. The mother and stepfather of deceased Hesquiat boy Dontay Lucas were both sentenced Thursday to 15 years in prison for manslaughter in the disturbing killing of the six-year-old in...
March 28, 2024
Canada, Manitoba point fingers at each other in response to off-reserve child welfare lawsuit
The Canadian flag flies at the Manitoba legislature in WInnipeg. Photo: Jared Delorme/APTN. APTN News: A class-action lawsuit filed by two First Nations women in Manitoba on behalf of off-reserve survivors of the child welfare system is heading to court with each of the defendants blaming the other. Both Canada and Manitoba are asking for...
March 25, 2024
Manitoba to pay $530-million in settlement over children’s allowance
The Globe and Mail: The Canadian Press – The Manitoba government has agreed to pay $530 million to settle class-action lawsuits over child welfare benefit payments. The proposed settlement, which still requires court approval, follows a 2022 court ruling that found the province was wrong to claw back hundreds of millions of dollars in federal...
January 27, 2024
Judge overturns landmark $150K human rights award for mother who claimed discrimination
Decision says human rights tribunal asked wrong questions and erred in law in landmark decision CBC Indigenous: A B.C. Supreme Court judge has overturned a landmark human rights tribunal decision awarding $150,000 to a mother who claimed she was discriminated against by Canada’s longest-serving Indigenous child-care agency. In the original decision, tribunal member Devyn Cousineau found the Vancouver...
November 20, 2023
BC Granted ‘Limited’ Status in Human Rights Inquiry
The province says it was only alerted by the RCMP to the ongoing hearings in July. The Tyee: B.C.’s attorney general has been denied full party status in an ongoing Canadian Human Rights Tribunal inquiry into the RCMP’s handling of historical abuse allegations at northern B.C. schools. Instead, the tribunal granted the province “limited interested person status,”...
November 16, 2023
Off-reserve Indigenous children say they’ve been ‘forgotten’ by federal government, seek compensation over child-welfare system
The Globe and Mail: Thousands of Indigenous children who live off reserve have been “forgotten” by the federal government when it comes to acknowledging harms caused by the child-welfare system, the lead representative plaintiff of a class-action lawsuit says. Cheyenne Stonechild, a Cree woman who was taken from her mother at the age of eight...
November 10, 2023
Indigenous mom’s discrimination payout hangs in the balance at B.C. Supreme Court
Child welfare agency tells court that tribunal ‘exceeded its jurisdiction’ in landmark ruling, which found VACFSS social workers relied on racist stereotypes Content warning: This story deals with child apprehension and discrimination against an Indigenous mother. Please look after your spirit and read with care. First Peoples Law Report: An Afro-Indigenous mother sat quietly in...
October 26, 2023
Government has to ‘keep focused’ and stop discriminating against First Nations kids says Blackstock
Also on the show, a discussion about state support in the face of conflict. APTN News: Canada has the answers to stop discriminating against First Nations children as ordered by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal and now is the time to do it says Cindy Blackstock. “They actually have solutions on the books and they’ve...
October 23, 2023
AFN Presents Final Settlement Agreement for First Nations Children and Families to Federal Court of Canada
NationTalk: (Ottawa, Unceded Algonquin Territory, Ontario) – The Assembly of First Nations’ (AFN) legal counsel, along with representatives for class action parties Moushoom and Trout, will appear before the Federal Court of Canada today to seek the approval of the Final Settlement Agreement (FSA) on compensation. This will be final step to ensure First Nations...
October 20, 2023
‘He ruined so many lives’: Victim speaks out over release of social worker
Robert Riley Saunders was a social worker with the Ministry of Children and Family Development. Facebook. APTN News: A victim of social worker Robert Riley Saunders is speaking out after the man who was sentenced to prison for stealing money from Indigenous youth was released on parole. “The reality is that he ruined so many...
March 17, 2023
Gitxsan family wins full custody over child in controversial case
Child’s maternal Gitxsan family fought courts for custody, and paternal family over Métis claims There were hugs and cheers in a packed Hazelton courthouse on Thursday as a B.C. judge granted permanent custody to the family of a Gitxsan child whose fate has been up in the air until now. “I was so relieved it’s all...
March 14, 2023
First Nations sue Canada over child-welfare system’s destruction of culture, language
Proposed class action seeks collective compensation for community-level harms CBC News: Ten Prairie-based First Nations are suing the Canadian government over the loss of language, culture and tradition inflicted on communities by the modern First Nations child-welfare system. Chief David Crate of Fisher River Cree Nation north of Winnipeg is the lead plaintiff in the proposed class-action lawsuit filed...
August 5, 2022
AMC Demands Full Restitution of CSA Funds Unlawfully Taken From First Nations Children in Care
NationTalk: Treaty One Territory, Manitoba – Today, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) calls on Manitoba to make full restitution to First Nations children in care for the Children’s Special Allowances Funds unlawfully and discriminatorily taken from them. The AMC makes this call in response to the Province of Manitoba’s unilateral announcement of its creation...
August 4, 2022
Manitoba decides not to appeal court ruling on child benefit payments
CTV News Winnipeg (Canadian Press): The Manitoba government said Thursday it will not appeal a court ruling that found the province was wrong to claw back hundreds of millions of dollars in federal benefit payments to kids in child welfare. The government also appeared open to calls for it to return the money, which Indigenous...
June 21, 2022
Off-reserve Indigenous children’s class-action approved
Toronto Star: The Federal Court of Canada has certified a class-action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of off-reserve Indigenous children who were taken from their families and placed in non-Indigenous care. In a decision released online Monday, Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled the class period will cover from Jan. 1, 1992 to...
May 19, 2022
Court rules that Manitoba Government discriminates against First Nations children in the Child Welfare System
NationTalk: The Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench ruled that the government of the province of Manitoba discriminates against First Nations children in the provincial Child and Family Services (CFS) system, and that its attempt to absolve itself of liability for holding back the federal Children Special Allowance (CSA) of over $334 million from children and...
March 17, 2022
Class Action Lawsuit for government use of Birth Alerts to apprehend Indigenous babies
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs – Earlier this week, a class-action lawsuit was filed in Winnipeg against the province of Manitoba regarding the controversial and discriminatory practice of Birth Alerts. The basis for the claim is that Birth Alerts are unconstitutional and are a Human Rights violation. “The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) has been a...
September 8, 2021
First Nations Challenge Bill 2
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs filed its written submissions in its challenge of the provincial Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act. The submissions of the AMC argue that through the BITSA, Manitoba: infringes the core jurisdiction of the superior courts and breaches section 96 of the Constitution Act, 1867 by having the province of...
December 15, 2020
First Nations challenge “Bill 2”
They filed a constitutional legal challenge against Manitoba’s “Bill 2″. “Bill 2” is Manitoba’s attempt to legalize the theft of CSA money from Indigenous children, the most vulnerable group in Manitoba. It is also Manitoba’s attempt to escape legal accountability for the theft. This is wrong,” said Harold Cochrane, legal counsel, Cochrane Saxberg LLP....
November 9, 2020
First Nations challenge “Bill 2”
The Southern Chiefs Organization and the Manitoba Métis Federation along with a group of 19 Indigenous child and family Agencies and Authorities announced their intent to file a challenge to BIll 2 “the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act” that was passed on November 6, 2020....
November 6, 2020
First Nations Challenge Bill 2
Bill 2, the “Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act“, is passed....
October 7, 2020
First Nations Challenge Bill 2
Oct. 7, 2020 – The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, the Official Opposition Manitoba NDP and the Manitoba Liberal Party, denounce and reject Bill 2 and stand in opposition against the Provincial government’s approach to denying First Nations families and children access to justice. Section 84 of the Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act will retroactively...
April 14, 2020
First Nations challenge “Bill 2”
Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs – are seriously concerned about Manitoba fast tracking Bill 2, The Budget Implementation and Tax Statutes Amendment Act. If passed, the Bill will have serious implications on First Nations children in care. On March 19, 2020 the Manitoba government introduced Bill 2. The Bill is currently seeking to legalize Manitoba’s actions...
October 6, 2019
Federal Government asks for Judicial Review of CHRT decision
The federal government has asked for a judicial review of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) decision to award $2B in damages to approximately 53,000 Indigenous children and youth wrongly removed or denied essential services. The CHRT panel found that the government racially discriminated against First Nations children in care in a willful and reckless manner. As a result, the CHRT ordered...
September 6, 2019
Federal Government asks for Judicial Review of CHRT decision
Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Citation: 2019 CHRT39, File No.: T1340/7008 We believe that the Creator has entrusted us with the sacred responsibility to raise our families…for we realize healthy families are the foundation of strong and healthy communities. The future of our communities lies with our children, who need to be nurtured within their families...
February 22, 2019
First Meeting with Indigenous Leadership Council in two years
The government of Manitoba met with the Indigenous Leadership Council (Manitoba Metis Federation, Southern Chiefs’ Organization and Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak) for first time in over two years despite a previous commitment to meet every quarter. The heads of the Indigenous Leadership Council met again with Minister of Families Heather Stefanson on Apr. 3, 2019 over...
Filter This Page
chevron_rightby Indigenous Group
chevron_rightby Stakeholder
- Other
- Provinces and Territories
- Federal Government