Ottawa offers over $35.5B for First Nations child welfare reform

Prime Minister Mark Carney's government is unveiling a new more than $35.5 billion plan to ensure Indigenous children are connected to their communities, cultures and families.

The proposal is less than the $47.8 billion submitted by former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government.t more than 10 years but covers a shorter period of time and contains a key difference: a $4.4 billion annual commitment that begins in 2033-34 after the initial $35.5 billion is spent.

Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gall-Masty shared the details with CBC News before making an announcement in Ottawa on Monday – the day her government's plan to reform the child welfare system on reserves is due to be submitted to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

“Every day that we continue to try to define what an agreement looks like or try to define through legal measures how you are going to stop discrimination is another day that a child is in custody,” Gall-Masty said.

“If we're really going to solve this problem, it has to be by creating a system where the child is in the care of his community, those he knows, those who love him, those who are going to teach him his culture, his identity, his language.”

But the government's plan is not the only one the tribunal is considering.

A group of Indigenous leaders and children's rights advocates known as the National Commission of Children's Chiefs.n, is submitting a competing proposal to the First Nations Children and Family Care Society.

“At the center of our plan is our love for our children,” said Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the Caring Society.

The Commission was directed by the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) to develop an Indigenous-led plan after Chiefs rejected the Trudeau government's $47.8 billion offer last year.because of money was designed for only 10 years and will be subject to annual reviews.

National agreement, regional approaches

Applications are being submitted almost ten years later. That the court made a landmark decision which found that Ottawa was subjecting Indigenous children to racial discrimination due to underfunding of Indigenous child and family services and ordered an end to the discrimination.

The proposals also come nearly 20 years after a joint human rights complaint was filed by the FSA and the Caring Society in 2007.

If the tribunal approves Ottawa's plan, Gall-Masty said, more than $35.5 billion in funding would be legally guaranteed to ensure it is protected from future government changes and would be available immediately.

She said the government did not take back the $47.8 billion that was previously on the table because it was using those funds to pay for services costing about $4.4 billion a year.

The government is presenting a national reform plan but is seeking to establish regional agreements with Indigenous organizations so they can tailor service delivery and funding to their specific realities, Gall-Masti said.

Under the proposal, communities would determine their own standards of care, she said.

“I believe that the community should be in control of the decision-making process, should be in control of what they are going to create in their First Nation because it is determined by their identity,” Gall-Masty said.

Blackstock said she would prefer to see national minimum standards apply to services for Indigenous children and families, with regional differences, so that the federal government is held accountable to those receiving the same level of care across the country.

“Canada systematically discriminates against every Indigenous child across the country, so we need systemic solutions to hold accountable and ensure this stops and doesn’t happen again,” Blackstock said. “That can’t happen with a one-to-one approach.”

So far, seven regions have expressed interest in entering into regional agreements with the government, according to Gall-Masti.

She said she hopes to have it all regional agreements in force by September 2026 and implemented by April 1, 2027 Any a community that does not agree to an agreement will be subject to the national agreement, she added.

Personal announcement for the minister

It's a job that's close to Gall-Masti's heart, who was elected as the first female chief government officer of the Cree Nation in Quebec before entering federal politics.

“Just because I'm in this position doesn't mean I don't have personal experiences with children in my family coming into care,” Gall-Masty said.

“Trying to help them, trying to make decisions for them, that’s something very personal to me.”

Although two plans have been submitted to the tribunal, Gall-Masty said she still wants to work with the National Children's Chiefs Commission and the Trusteeship Society.

“This discussion is not about one plan or another,” she said. “This discussion is about what path you want to take and how we can close that gap in working together.”