Ontario First Nations to negotiate child welfare reforms with Ottawa

OTTAWA — First Nations in Ontario are charting their own path with the federal government to reform the child welfare system weeks after critics said the deal reached last July was too weak to accept.

The news comes one day after an embattled federal government sent the Assembly of First Nations a letter marked “confidential and settlement privileged” informing that they are not permitted to renegotiate reforms on a national level, despite calls from chiefs at two assemblies for Canada to do just that.

“Canada is not currently in a position to engage in any negotiations beyond those with (Chiefs of Ontario) and (Nishnawbe Aski Nation),” the letter from Paul Vickery, legal agent and counsel for the Department of Justice Canada wrote to the Assembly’s lawyers.

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, in a release, called that “disappointing.”

“The well-being of First Nations children and families remains our top priority, and we will continue to advocate for fair and equitable supports to ensure our children thrive, wherever they live. The AFN executive committee will continue its discussions to determine how best to support First Nations children and families, in light of this unfortunate development,” Woodhouse Nepinak wrote.

The initial $47.8 deal was struck between Canada, the Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation and the Assembly of First Nations in July after a nearly two-decades-long legal fight over the federal government’s underfunding of on-reserve child welfare services.

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal said that was discriminatory because it meant kids living on reserve were given fewer services than those living off reserve.

The tribunal tasked Canada with reaching an agreement with First Nations to reform the system, and also with compensating children who were torn from their families and put in foster care.

The $47.8 billion agreement was to cover 10 years of funding for First Nations to take control over their own child welfare services from the federal government, create a body to deal with complaints and set aside money for prevention, among others.

Chiefs outside of Ontario rejected the proposal in October, voting instead to change the legal and negotiation teams on their end and calling for Canada to seek a new negotiation mandate.

Those calls were repeated at a December gathering where chiefs outlined exactly how they plan to negotiate with Canada, and cut out the Assembly of First Nations altogether and bring back in the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, which helped launch the initial complaint to the tribunal.

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu continuously expressed her disappointment about the deal being rejected by chiefs in assembly, but would not say in December whether her government would consider negotiating with Ontario independently, as was being speculated at the time.

In December, a number of leaked legal opinions on the way forward showed the Assembly of First Nations was looking into the validity of resolutions passed by chiefs on child welfare reforms, including one that said the deal could be moot if there’s a change in government.

In one legal review from Fasken Matrineau DuMoulin LLP — a firm where the former national chief of the organization, Perry Bellegarde, works as a special adviser — it appears as though the assembly asked for direction on now to get “rid” of two resolutions used to vote down the deal altogether.

In a statement at the time, the Assembly of First Nations said the reviews were conducted independently and don’t reflect the views or positions of the advocacy organization.

Meanwhile, First Nations in Ontario were mulling their next steps, as the vast majority of chiefs in the region voted in favour of the deal others voted down, in part because they were at the negotiation table and advocated for some aspects specific to the region, including a remoteness factor that would see rural First Nations receive more support.

“We have what we believe is a proposal that meets the needs of our region,” said Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict in an interview. “And so the federal government has agreed that’s the process they’re prepared to go through.”

Benedict said he’s not responsible for what other regions decide to do, but rather for the some 130 First Nations he represents who saw the deal as a landmark change in how child welfare services operate in the province.

Even though Parliament is prorogued until March 24 and the opposition parties have vowed to take down the government at the earliest opportunity, Benedict is hopeful an agreement can be finalized before an election because reforms only need cabinet approval, not a vote in the House of Commons.

“We’re not asking for something over and above anything else that people have already seen,” Benedict said.

“We’re asking for the elements that will work for an Ontario-specific deal to be carved out and given to Ontario … We want to end discrimination today — our children cannot wait for another two-year process to negotiate.”

In a statement Tuesday, Hajdu said the negotiations with First Nations in Ontario will improve the lives of families.

“The future of all our communities depends on healthy families and children and I am optimistic that we will reach a deal where all First Nations have this reality,” she said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 7, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press