Canada’s submission to the Tribunal regarding the NCCC Notice of Motion seeking Interested Party Status
Press Release
1. The National Children’s Chiefs Commission (NCCC) should not be granted interested party status in this proceeding. The NCCC’s intervention is unnecessary, disproportionate, and will inevitably result in duplication and delays. Adding the NCCC at this late stage will undermine
the Tribunal’s ability to efficiently and effectively move forward with the remedial phase of the proceedings.
2. Permitting the NCCC to become an interested party to present the positions of the First Nations-in-Assembly will not assist this Panel. The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada (Caring Society) have both already been mandated by the First Nations-in-Assembly to conduct this litigation. Additional participation from the NCCC will either result in duplication because the parties represent the same interests, or internally contradictory positions from parties representing the same interests.
2. As the third body mandated to lead these proceedings on behalf of the First Nations-in-Assembly, permitting the NCCC broad participatory rights will expand and complicate the issues before the Tribunal, resulting in a significant delay.
2. In any event, the NCCC’s views are already reflected in the materials and submissions filed by the co-complainants, so their participation as an interested party is unnecessary and disproportionate. The proportionality principle guides the Tribunal’s application of the interested
party status test and requires the dismissal of this motion.
5. In the alternative, the NCCC should have reasonable limits placed on its participatory rights. It should not be permitted to add to the evidentiary record nor bring additional motions.
PART I – STATEMENT OF FACTS
⦁ The Assembly of First Nations
⦁ The AFN has been one of two co-complainants in this legal proceeding since its inception in 2006. It is a national advocacy organization representing First Nations citizens in Canada,
including 634 First Nations communities.1 The Tribunal relies on the AFN to provide a broader First Nations perspective and represent the views of over 600 First Nations in Canada.2
⦁ The AFN’s Charter establishes nine principal organs, including the Executive Committee
and the First Nations-in-Assembly.3 The Executive Committee consists of the National Chief, the AFN Regional Chiefs, and the Chairperson of the Knowledge Keepers Council.4 It has a number of functions and powers as set out in the AFN Charter.5
⦁ The First Nations-in-Assembly consists of all the Chiefs of those First Nations who exercise their right to be members of the AFN.6 The First Nations-in-Assembly is a forum for First
1 Amended Affidavit of Craig Gideon (affirmed 22 March 2024) at para 3 [Gideon Affidavit].
1 First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v Attorney General of Canada (representing the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada), 2022 CHRT 26 at paras 41, 48 [2022 CHRT 26]; First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v Attorney General of Canada (representing the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada), 2025 CHRT 6 at para
470 [2025 CHRT 6]; First Nations Child & Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v Attorney General of Canada (representing the Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada), 2025 CHRT 80 at para 110 [2025 CHRT 80].
3 Assembly of First Nations (AFN), Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Charter, as amended (Ottawa: AFN, December 2022), art 5, online: Assembly of First Nations (AFN) Charter, as amended [AFN Charter]; previous versions of the AFN Charter have been before this Tribunal: 2025 CHRT 6
(Complainant Assembly of First Nations Written Argument on Canada’s Cross-Motion and First Nations Leadership Council’s Intervention, at Footnote 11, citing AFN, Charter of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN), as amended (Ottawa: AFN, July 2021)); 2018 CHRT 4 (Complainant AFN evidence, AFN, Charter (Vancouver: AFN, July 1985), Exhibit “A”, Affidavit of Jonathan Thompson (affirmed 20 December 2016)).
IHT5
