Tansi Nîtôtemtik,
The Star, Highlights of Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s recommendations on residential schools (2 June 2015) <www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/06/02/highlights-of-truth-and-reconciliation-commissions-recommendations-on-residential-schools.html>.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s (TRC) Calls to Action set out in the TRC Final Report highlight five Calls to Action specifically for child welfare.[1] The Government of Canada has outlined their efforts to address these calls. This post will provide an overview of what the federal government has said that they have done to address the Calls to Action concerning child welfare.
Call #1 calls on federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to reduce the number of children in care.[2] The Government of Canada has outlined that they have attempted to address this Call by increasing funding for First Nation Child and Family Services in an effort to provide more robust culturally appropriate services.[3] The Government of Canada has also noted that they have supported the safety of First Nations children living on reserve by reimbursing funding based on the actual costs for First Nations child and family services.[4]
Call #2 calls on the federal government to prepare and publish annual reports on the number of Aboriginal children in care, compared to non-Aboriginal children, as well as the reasons for apprehension, the total spending on preventative and care services and the effectiveness of various interventions.[5] The federal government has said that as of Fall 2018, they are working on developing a data reporting strategy to address this Call.[6] No report as outlined in this Call has been released to date.
Call #3 calls on all levels of government to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.[7] The federal government has made $679.9 million available for Jordan’s Principle since 2016.[8] In that time, 341,000 products, services, and supports were approved under Jordan’s Principle.[9] Indigenous Services Canada has also fully implemented Jordan’s Principle and efforts are being taken to ensure that Indigenous children are receiving the supports that they need.[10] The federal government has also announced an increase in funding to ensure that children obtain appropriate care.
Call #4 calls upon the federal government to enact legislation that establishes national standards for the apprehension of Aboriginal children and custody cases.[11] The Call asks that the legislation should affirm the right of Aboriginal governments to establish and maintain their own child-welfare agencies, to require all child-welfare agencies and courts to take the residential school legacy into account in decision-making, and establish, as a priority, a requirement that placement of Aboriginal children into care shall be culturally appropriate.[12] In 2019, the federal government introduced Bill C-92, an Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families.[13] The Act came into force on January 1, 2020. We will be providing an in depth discussion of this Act tomorrow and will be outlining some of the provincial responses to this Call on Thursday.
Call #5 calls upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate parenting programs for Aboriginal families.[14] Indigenous Services Canada was implemented with the intention to provide a wide range of supports to Indigenous children and families.[15] In addition, the federal government has increased funding and established a specific Community Well-Being and Jurisdiction Initiatives stream of funding to support First Nations communities to lead the development and delivery of prevention services.[16]
Despite the efforts outlined by the federal government, many have questioned whether enough has been done. The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal has issued eight different orders to the federal government to stop discriminating against Indigenous children in child welfare programs and services.[17] Each order is a response to the previous order not being implemented. Further, Call # 2 has not yet been effectively addressed. Minister of Indigenous Services, Jane Philpott, held an “emergency” meeting in 2018 which resulted in the development of six “points of action”.[18] One of the points of action is to develop “a data and reporting strategy with provinces, territories and Indigenous partners.”[19] No more information was provided on a timeline for the development of this data and reporting strategy, nor were specifics provided to show how it would align with the other elements of Call # 2. Since the emergency meeting, it does not appear that much more has been done to develop this strategy. We will be providing an analysis of the strengths and shortcoming of Bill C-92 and similar provincial legislation in the coming days. Bill C-92 has also been the subject of significant criticism suggesting that it too is insufficient for addressing child welfare issues.[20]
While it appears that some progress has been made on the Calls to Action since their release, it also appears that significantly more must be done. It is imperative that the solutions to these issues do not stop at the planning stage. Full implementation of solution efforts is essential to ensure that the child welfare issues outlined in the TRC Calls to Action are addressed.
Until next time,
Team ReconciliAction YEG
---
To receive daily alerts to the blog, sign up here
Be sure to stay up to date on other happenings with ReconciliAction YEG:
Follow us on Twitter at:@ReconciliYEG
Connect with us on Facebook at: www.facebook.com/reconciliActionYEG/
Check out our Instagram at: @reconciliactionyeg
---
[1] Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future: Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (Ottawa: TRCC, 2015), online: <https://nctr.ca/assets/reports/Final%20Reports/Executive_Summary_English_Web.pdf> [TRC Summary].
[2] Ibid at 139-140.
[3] Government of Canada, “Delivering on Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action: Child Welfare”, Government of Canada (website), online: <https://www.rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca/eng/1524494379788/1557513026413> [Government of Canada].
[4] Ibid.
[5] TRC Summary, supra note 1 at 140.
[6] Government of Canada, supra note 3.
[7] TRC Summary, supra note 1 at 143; For a deeper discussion on Jordan’s Principle see our post “Jordan’s Principle: Is the Government Truly Putting the Child First?”: <https://ualbertalaw.typepad.com/faculty/2017/10/jordans-principle.html>.
[8] Government of Canada, supra note 3.
[9] Ibid. Note that specifics on how the 341,000 number was calculated is not outlined by the federal government.
[10] Ibid.
[11] TRC Summary, supra note 1 at 143.
[12] Ibid at 144.
[13] Ibid.
[14] TRC Summary, supra note 1 at 144.
[15] Government of Canada, supra note 3.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Tom McMahon, “Truth and Reconciliation? What Truth and Reconciliation?” (7 October 2019), The Tyee (online): <https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2019/10/07/What-Truth-And-Reconciliation/>.
[18] CBC News, “Beyond 94” (18 October 2019), CBC News (online): <https://newsinteractives.cbc.ca/longform-single/beyond-94?&cta=2>.
[19] Ibid.
[20] Naiomi Walqwan Metallic, Hadley Friedland, Jeffery Hewitt, Sarah Morales, and Aimee Craft, “Bill C-92: An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit, and Metis Children, Youth, and Families”, Yellowhead Institute (online): <https://yellowheadinstitute.org/bill-c-92-analysis/#analysis1>.
