What’s happening with the $47.8B child welfare settlement?

As Canada moves forward on a child welfare reform settlement with just Ontario First Nations, what does that mean for the Northwest Territories?

At a special assembly in October 2024, chiefs from across Canada voted against a draft $47.8-billion settlement agreement regarding long-term reform of the federal First Nations Child and Family Services Program. They called on the Assembly of First Nations and Canada to renegotiate.

At a subsequent assembly, chiefs voted to include NWT First Nations in the settlement among other resolutions. They have since formed a Chiefs’ Children’s Council to negotiate a new deal through a national approach.

Last month, however, Canada announced it was pursuing a carve-out deal with Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation – which helped to negotiate the rejected agreement – to reform Ontario’s on-reserve child welfare system.

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and Assembly of First Nations have said they were subsequently informed by the federal government that its mandate does not permit further national-level negotiations.

Dene Nation ‘disappointed’

Dene National Chief George Mackenzie said NWT First Nations are “disappointed” Canada is advancing a deal with only Ontario First Nations.

“Now we are out of the package like the rest of the First Nations in each province,” he said. “So now we have to go back to the drawing board and try to renegotiate with the federal government without Ontario.”

Chief Mackenzie said he hopes the federal government will agree to negotiate a national deal before the upcoming election.

He said further negotiations are needed to ensure that “everybody will get an equal, fair share” of remaining settlement funds.

In a bulletin issued last month, the Assembly of First Nations stated that “without Canada’s willingness to negotiate nationally, the next option for pursuing long-term reform may be litigation.”

Why the NWT was initially excluded

The draft settlement agreement stems from a 2016 ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that Canada has discriminated against First Nations children and their families by improperly funding child and family services on reserves and in the Yukon.

The tribunal ordered Canada to pay compensation and work to reform the child welfare system and Jordan’s Principle.

A previous, related $23.3-billion settlement agreement, approved in 2023, did not include NWT children and families.

In a statement to Cabin Radio, Eric Head, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada, said the Assembly of First Nations’ resolutions call for negotiations on a national deal that “expands beyond the scope of the final agreement.”

He highlighted that federal funding for child and family services in the NWT is provided through transfer payment agreements with the territorial government rather than the First Nations Child and Family Services Program. The territorial government then decides how to use those funds.

Head pointed to funding the federal government has committed to support implementation of legislation that allows Indigenous governments and organizations to take control of child and family services.

In September 2024, for example, the Canadian government signed a $500-million deal with the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation.

Why Ontario is moving ahead

In a statement to Cabin Radio, Chiefs of Ontario – or COO – said the original claim of discrimination filed with the tribunal did not include First Nations children living off reserve.

“We believe children and families on reserve are just as a significant investment as off-reserve children and families,” the organization said, adding it would continue to fight for equal services for children living off reserve.

Chiefs of Ontario said the rejected settlement agreement envisioned “significant material benefits to First Nations” and would ensure Indigenous governments decide who provides child and family services. It said some of the suggested changes to the agreement “are not realistically achievable.”

“COO wants to move ahead with reform now. Other regions want to keep going, and that’s their choice,” the statement continued, adding COO does not intend to stop NWT First Nations from pursuing their rights.

Chief Wilfred King of Gull Bay First Nation told APTN there is urgency to complete a deal due to the upcoming federal election. He said he is concerned that if the Conservatives form the next government, they could cut back First Nations programs and services.

“I think that was something that was very clear, that chiefs recognized that lived through the Harper years. I lived through the Harper years as well,” King told the broadcaster.

“We’ve seen the massive cutbacks of First Nations programs and services. And I don’t know, I’m not sure what Pierre Poilievre will do in the future, but [based on Harper’s actions] we feel that First Nations programs and services will be cut.”

‘It wasn’t a choice’

Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the Caring Society, said while NWT First Nations may not receive funding through the First Nations Child and Family Services Program, they are covered by Jordan’s Principle.

Blackstock said she welcomed the chiefs’ decision to include the territory in an agreement that would reform both.

“I think it’s necessary to do that,” she said. “If we say all children matter, all children matter, including those in the NWT.”

Ontario’s settlement agreement does not include Jordan’s Principle.

Blackstock said she is “very concerned” that Canada is moving forward on an agreement with Ontario. She said that raises questions about good-faith negotiations.

“That final settlement agreement included a choice for all First Nations. You could agree with the agreement or you could not agree with the agreement, but choice presumes the ability to choose,” she said.

“What Canada is saying by only going with the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation, which agree with the agreement, is that really it wasn’t a choice. You either agree with us or you get left behind.”

On January 14, the Caring Society filed a motion with the tribunal asking that it order Canada to negotiate a national deal.

In a joint statement, the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation said they were “disappointed” with the motion, saying “we will not allow this to derail our process and distract us from the work that needs to be done.”