Joint Open Letter on Equity for First Nations Children

Ottawa- February 23, 2017 – The plight of First Nations children continues, despite a ten-year legal battle that resulted with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordering the federal government in January 2016 to end the longstanding, systemic underfunding of First Nations children’s services.

The ruling stemmed from a legal case that commenced on February 23, 2007. The case was brought by the Assembly of First Nations, and by UFCW Canada’s national partner, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society (the Caring Society). Since the 2016 ruling, the Tribunal has found the federal government has failed to fully comply to correct the underfunding of First Nations child and family services.

To mark the 10^th anniversary of the case and the ongoing delay of justice, allies of the Caring Society including Amnesty International, UFCW Canada and other organizations,  are signatories to an open letter that was sent to Carolyn Bennett, Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, and Jody Wilson-Raybould, Minister of Justice and Attorney General.

The letter urges the government to immediately comply with the orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

“Thousands of First Nations children continue to be harmed by the lack of equal access to quality education and social services that other children across Canada receive,” says UFCW Canada National President Paul Meinema. “There is no excuse for further delay in ending the discrimination and following the Tribunal’s ruling.”

The Tribunal will reconvene on March 22 to hear further motions regarding the federal government’s non-compliance.To find out more about the case and the Tribunal findings, go to https://fncaringsociety.com/i-am-witness.