The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) has filed a $10 billion class action lawsuit accusing the Canadian government of underfunding the First Nations child welfare system in the Yukon and on reserves.
The First Nations child welfare class action lawsuit claims that Canada’s child welfare system discriminated against First Nations children.
According to the First Nations class action lawsuit, Canada’s discriminatory funding incentivized the removal of First Nations children from their families. The government also allegedly failed to consider the needs of First Nations communities throughout Canada.
The funding for First Nations children on reserve was significantly less than that allocated to children located off reserve, the First Nations class action lawsuit asserts.
“Year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation, the Crown has systematically discriminated against First Nation Children because of their race, nationality and ethnicity and created a Removed Child Class,” lawyers from Strosberg Sasso Sutts LLP wrote in the complaint.
The First Nations child welfare class action lawsuit was filed on behalf of children and families affected by the allegedly discriminatory child welfare practices.
One plaintiff says she was taken from her mother at birth. Because her mother was a member of the Mishkeegogamang First Nation in northern Ontario, the plaintiff qualified as a status Indian member of the First Nation.
Despite this status, she was taken off reserve and placed in a non-Indigenous foster care home. When she was 5, she was adopted by a non-Indigenous family.
Like the other plaintiffs in the First Nations class action lawsuit, she says she suffered racism and other harm in the hostile environment she was placed in. Once she turned 18, she reconnected with her culture and has been working to overcome the negative effects she suffered as a result of Canada’s allegedly discriminatory child welfare practices.
“Year after year, generation after generation, Canada systematically discriminated against First Nations children and families simply because they were First Nations,” AFN National Chief Perry Bellegarde said in a press release.
“It did so by underfunding preventive care, perpetuating the historical disadvantage resulting from the residential schools,” he continued. “Canada breached its responsibility to our children and families, infringed on their Charter rights, and caused them real harm and suffering.”
This First Nations child welfare class action lawsuit is the second one to challenge the government’s child welfare practices as they pertain to First Nations children and seek damages to compensate the children allegedly harmed. The other First Nations class action lawsuit is awaiting certification.
In January 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) ruled that Canada discriminated against First Nations children. On Sept. 6, 2019, the CHRT awarded $40,000 in compensation to First Nations children on reserve and their family members who were either denied services or wrongly apprehended.
This ruling currently applies even though the government is seeking to overturn it. Canada has reportedly spent more than $8 million in legal fees in its efforts to quash the CHRT’s ruling.
The new class action lawsuit filed by AFN seeks compensation for all First Nations children and families harmed by Canada’s allegedly discriminatory child welfare system, including those who were not covered in the CHRT decision.
What do you think about the allegations that the Canadian government discriminated against First Nation children? Tell us your thoughts in the comment below!
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