National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak speaks during a news conference on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, Monday, June 3, 2024.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations says an apology from the Prime Minister on the harms caused by the First Nations child-welfare system should take place on the floor of the House of Commons within the next year.
Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak’s comments Thursday follow a letter she received this week from Justin Trudeau, which outlines the government’s plans to issue the apology for “discriminatory conduct” relating to First Nations child and family services, and the “past and ongoing harm it caused.”
In March, Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak wrote to the Prime Minister to seek his official apology. In an interview Thursday, the AFN National Chief said Mr. Trudeau’s decision to issue an apology is “very significant” and amounts to “another step in trying to right the wrongs of the past.”
First Nations children remain overrepresented in the child-welfare system, Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak said, adding that they have been subjected to discrimination and removed from their families, culture and language in a way that mirrors the residential school system. Residential schools were government-funded institutions that existed in Canada from the 1870s to 1996.
“It’s a hard dark issue that Canada has to face up to,” the AFN National Chief said. “I know we would like to see it in the House of Commons. I think this whole country needs to hear it and it needs to be on record.”
In his letter to Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak, Mr. Trudeau said he has asked Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu and Justice Minister Arif Virani to lead engagements prior to the delivery of the apology.
The AFN National Chief said that she would like to see the engagements involve First Nations children and families who have been affected by the system.
Jennifer Kozelj, a press secretary for Ms. Hajdu, said in a statement that the government is “engaging with First Nations partners to understand what an apology could look like and what steps need to be taken before getting there.”
The Prime Minister said his expectation for the engagement process is to provide room for voices of all parties of the $23-billion final settlement agreement with affected First Nations children and families – approved by the Federal Court of Canada in October – as well as other First Nations partners. When contacted for comment, the Prime Minister’s Office referred to the statement from Ms. Hajdu’s office.
The compensation agreement could soon see money flowing to communities after a lengthy legal battle with the federal government.
The Federal Court approved what is called a distribution protocol that outlines eligibility rules and a framework for how claimants can apply for compensation. Representative plaintiff Carolyn Buffalo said in a Thursday statement that she is pleased compensation will be rolling out in the near future.
In 2007, the AFN and another advocacy organization, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, brought a complaint about discriminatory child-welfare funding to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, or CHRT.
In 2019, the tribunal found that Ottawa had willfully and recklessly discriminated against Indigenous children on reserve by failing to provide funding for child and family services. It ordered the government to provide up to $40,000 to each First Nations child unnecessarily taken into care on or after Jan. 1, 2006. Its orders also covered parents or grandparents and children who were denied essential services. Ottawa filed for a judicial review of the tribunal decision.
In October, 2021, the federal government said it would appeal a Federal Court decision that upheld the CHRT finding. In the same announcement, the government said it had agreed to put a pause on litigation while it negotiated outside of court.
Talks were held between the federal government and class-action lawsuit parties, as well as the AFN and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. Former chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Murray Sinclair, was also asked in November, 2021, to help facilitate the negotiations.
In addition to the compensation agreement, there is a separate $20-billion package of reforms to the child-welfare system on First Nations.
Ms. Woodhouse Nepinak said money is not going to solve everything, nor will an apology, but she said it is about trying to move forward in a better way.
“I think apologies are necessary,” she said.