The federal government’s proposal to finalize reforms to Indigenous child and family services is worth $47 billion over 10 years, a source involved in the negotiations told CBC News.
Two other sources who attended a closed-door session of the Assembly of First Nations’ annual meeting in Montreal on Tuesday afternoon also said the settlement proposal is worth more than $45 billion.
CBC News is not identifying its sources because they were not authorized to speak about confidential settlement negotiations or closed hearings.
AFN National President Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak revealed the existence of the proposal during her opening address to delegates Tuesday morning, calling it a “fair proposal” but providing no details.
A spokesperson for the Head of State would not comment on the reported amount of the proposal, nor did Indigenous Services Canada (ISC).
In a statement, the ISC indicated that a final settlement has not yet been reached.
“The agreement with Indigenous peoples marks a major milestone in the long-term reform of the program and advances our ongoing commitment to eliminating discrimination,” ISC spokesperson Anispiragas Piragasanatar wrote.
The proposal would finalize a five-year, $20 billion agreement reached in 2021. A separate, related deal to compensate victims of the chronically underfunded child welfare system on the reservation and in Yukon was also agreed to in 2022 and later approved for $23 billion.
The two agreements constitute a comprehensive settlement intended to resolve a long-standing grievance filed by Cindy Blackstock and AFN with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in 2007.
The lawsuit, upheld by the tribunal in 2016, alleged that underfunding of child and family services constituted systemic racism. The tribunal ordered Canada to pay $40,000 to the victims and some of their families as compensation for their pain and suffering – the maximum amount allowed under human rights law.
Blackstock, executive director of the Native American Child and Family Care Association, said Tuesday that some estimates suggest the proposed reforms could cost as little as $51 billion or as much as $57 billion.
Issues surrounding the implementation of the Jordan Principles, a program to ensure Indigenous children have access to basic health products and services without delays tied to jurisdictional disputes, remain unresolved at the Human Rights Court.
