In a landmark decision (First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v. Attorney General of Canada (Representing the Minister of Indigenous and Norther Affairs Canada et al.), 2019 CHRT 39, released on September 6, 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered the federal government to pay $40,000 for every First Nations child unnecessarily removed from family members on reserve and in the Yukon on or after January 1st, 2006. The equivalent amount was ordered to be paid to each of their parents or grandparents who were caring for them during the same time period. As well, the Tribunal ordered $40,000 to be paid to every First Nations child living on or off reserve denied an essential service (as defined by Jordan’s Principle) between December 12, 2007 and November 2, 2017. The equivalent amount was ordered to be paid to each of their parents or grandparents who were caring for them during the same time period. These amounts represent the maximum compensation that can be awarded by the Tribunal.
By way of context, this decision, which focuses on compensation, flows from an earlier decision by the same Tribunal on January 26, 2016 (First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada et al. v. Attorney General of Canada (for the Minister of Indian and Norther Affairs Canada et al.), 2016 CHRT 2, where it ruled that First Nations children and families living on reserve and in the Yukon were being discriminated against and “denied equal child and family services and/or differentiated adversely in the provision of child and family services, pursuant to section 5 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.”
The Assembly of First Nations estimates the number of children impacted by this ruling to be approximately 54,000 nationally, bringing the minimum compensation bill to $2.1 billion. If each of the parents or grandparents serving in a caregiving capacity of these children were to receive additional compensation, that number is estimated to be double that amount.
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