Canada to appeal decision to compensate indigenous children harmed by discrimination

A teepee used by the Sacred Wolf Lodge on the Cowesss First Nation is seen near Grayson, Saskatchewan, Canada, October 19, 2021. REUTERS / Shannon VanRaes / File Photo

TORONTO, Oct. 29 (Reuters) – The Canadian government said Friday it would appeal a federal court ruling confirming a ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Court against Indigenous children and their carers who have been harmed by a discriminatory child welfare system to compensate individually.

The decision means Canada will continue a 14 year legal battle. The government filed the notice late Friday afternoon before the deadline.

The tribunal’s ruling is expected to cost the federal government billions of dollars.

The announcement stated that the government “recognizes the findings of systemic discrimination and does not oppose the general principle that First Nations individuals should be compensated.”

However, awarding compensation to individuals, as the tribunal did, was “consistent with the nature of the complaint, evidence, previous case law and Canadian human rights law,” the notice said.

It is the latest in a series of cases in Canada of indigenous peoples facing government discrimination for more than a century.

In cases that range from human rights to fiduciary duties and contract rights, legal victories strengthen indigenous communities, set new standards for relationships between indigenous governments, and send a message to governments that promises are not enough, lawyers say.

The Human Rights Ordinance also broadens the definition of a principle that indigenous children are promptly cared for regardless of jurisdiction, which means that many more children are entitled to prompt treatment that could otherwise be delayed by litigation. Continue reading

The appeal comes just hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his government’s pledge to compensate indigenous children, despite refusing to say whether his government would continue to oppose the indigenous child compensation order.

“The ministers are actively working on it, also this morning in Ottawa,” he told reporters in the Netherlands during his European tour.

Recent victories for indigenous communities include a Supreme Court order to recalculate compensation for centuries-old acts based not on the bare minimum of a government but on what the Lac Seul First Nation lost in the process.

Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny in Toronto Editing by Diane Craft and Matthew Lewis

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.