Federal Court approves First Nations child-welfare settlement for $23B – National Observer
October 25th 2023
The Peace Tower is pictured on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Tuesday, Jan. 31, 2023. File photo by The Canadian Press/Sean Kilpatrick
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A Federal Court judge verbally approved a landmark $23-billion settlement on Tuesday that will see Ottawa compensate more than 300,000 First Nations children and their families over chronic underfunding of on-reserve child-welfare services.
The settlement comes more than 15 years after the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society jointly launched a human-rights complaint that sparked a years-long legal battle with the federal government.
Joanna Bernard, interim national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, spoke of how the plaintiffs were resilient in advocating for themselves and their communities. She said her organization is “very, very pleased” with this outcome and eager for children and their relatives to receive the compensation as soon as possible.
Cindy Blackstock, the executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, said on X — formerly Twitter — that she was thinking of the victims and is looking forward to see “comprehensive supports” for them as the process continues.
