Provinces preventing First Nations from taking control over child welfare, national chief says

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This article was published 07/07/2020 (2107 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde says provincial governments that want to cling to their jurisdiction over child welfare are the biggest barrier to implementing new legislation giving Indigenous communities control over their children’s well-being.

“Let’s be open and frank about it. One of the biggest challenges is to working with premiers and the appropriate ministers,” Bellegarde told the Free Press Tuesday morning.

Bellegarde and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller signed an agreement in Ottawa this morning that is the next step forward in implementing Bill C-92.

The bill passed in the last Parliament and took effect Jan. 1, setting national standards for Indigenous jurisdiction over child and family services.

However several provinces are concerned about the impact on their roles in child-welfare programs, and Quebec is challenging the constitutionality of the bill in court.

Bellegarde would not say Tuesday which provinces are causing the biggest problem.

“I’m not going to throw anybody under the bus,” he said.

Premier Brian Pallister has said he supports the intent of the bill, but feels Ottawa has consistently failed to consult with Manitoba, which leads the country in child apprehensions.

Last December, he pushed premiers to demand clarity on how the bill would work, with Alberta asking to delay its implementation for fear of children falling between jurisdictional cracks.

Manitoba’s system is currently semi-devolved, with First Nations and Métis authorities administering agencies that follow provincial laws, and receive funding from Ottawa and the province.

That limits how band councils can spend money on prevention and education, and funding structures in Manitoba have only recently starting shifting away from being linked to how many kids get taken out of their homes.

The agreement signed today is a guide for discussions between Ottawa and First Nations governments as each community moves to assert its control of child welfare for its own kids, recognizing Indigenous laws and customs.

Bellegarde says those discussions must also happen with provincial governments, which he said is one of the biggest barriers to reducing the number of Indigenous children in foster care in Canada.

“It’s one thing to have a law, but it’s really important for the implementation of it to bring about change that’s so desperately needed,” he said on Parliament Hill.

Tuesday’s agreement does not apply to Métis or Inuit groups; Ottawa says it is crafting different approaches for each. It also does not prescribe a funding formula, instead creating a body to figure out how to finance child welfare, an issue advocates have flagged since the Liberals starting talking about devolving child welfare.

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca