National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak gives her opening address at the Assembly of First Nations annual general assembly in Montreal. Photo: Christinne Muschi/The Canadian Press.
APTN News: The Canada Press -The national chief of the Assembly of First Nations says there are 47.8 billion reasons for chiefs to accept a child welfare reform deal with Canada, but a leading child welfare expert is warning chiefs to review the fine print.
National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak has been promoting a settlement that would see the federal government set aside $47.8 billion over 10 years to reform the First Nations child welfare system.
That deal was struck after decades of advocacy and litigation from First Nations and experts, seeking to redress decades of discrimination against First Nations children who were torn from their families and placed in foster care because the child welfare systems on reserves were not funded to provide services that could keep families together.
The federal government is responsible for child welfare on reserves, and provincial governments for child welfare programs everywhere else. But Ottawa’s funding was only on par with the provinces when it came to foster care because they had to pay provincial agencies to provide that service at provincial rates.
The AFN is set to ratify the agreement at a special assembly in September, should chiefs agree to its contents.
“Canada has pursued its colonial policies — they have attacked our Nations by removing our children from their parents, their homes and communities for generations,” Woodhouse Nepinak said at a press conference in Winnipeg Tuesday.
“The final settlement agreement represents a significant step toward dramatically improving services for First Nations children after generations of abuse at the hands of federal and provincial child welfare systems by directing funds to First Nations.”
But leading child welfare advocate Cindy Blackstock says she wonders how the AFN is expected to present chiefs with nuanced information about that same settlement agreement, because a clause in the deal instructs them to publicly promote and defend it.
“In my view, consultation involves kind of giving people the straight goods — the downsides of things,” Blackstock, who heads the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, said in an interview.
“It’s not about selling an agreement. It’s about saying, here are the different options, and these are the upsides and downsides as we see them.”
Woodhouse Nepinak defended the clause Tuesday, saying it’s important for regional chiefs to speak to their assemblies and that promoting the agreement ensures more people are aware of it.
Blackstock is also concerned service providers are excluded from the agreement, along with youth in care with lived experiences who are crucial to ensure the agreement actually works on the ground.
Indigenous Services Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
