The Federal Court of Canada on Tuesday approved a C$23 billion settlement to compensate First Nations children and families harmed by the discriminatory underfunding of the First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) program.
The settlement resolved two class action lawsuits that were initiated in March 2019 and January 2020, respectively. Both class actions brought claims against the Government of Canada for underfunding and limited coverage of the FNCFS program. All parties agreed to work towards a global solution by December 2021. Agreements in principle on compensation were reached in January 2022 and subsequently approved, after revision, by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) in July 2023.
In response to the approval, Interim National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Joanna Bernard thanked the representative plaintiffs for their long-overdue recognition of the harm suffered by First Nations. Unicef Canada also welcomed the Federal Court’s approval and called for the agreement to be implemented quickly.
Since 2016, the CHRT has ruled that the design of the FCFS program was based on flawed racist assumptions that resulted in inadequate fixed funding for operational and prevention costs. The court also ruled that inadequate funding impaired the ability of FNCFS agencies to provide provincially/territorially mandated child welfare services, not to mention culturally appropriate services to First Nations children and families.
The CHRT has since directed the Government of Canada to end its discriminatory practices and to immediately implement the full meaning and scope of the Jordan Principle. The Government of Canada had filed several judicial reviews of the CHRT’s decisions – which were dismissed by the Federal Court in relation to eligibility for services for First Nations children under the Jordan Principle. Jordan’s Principle was developed in 2007 to ensure all First Nations children have access to the products, services and supports they need, including health, social and educational needs.