The agreements are a result of negotiations that concluded on New Year’s Eve, just hours before the government’s self-imposed deadline for a deal, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu confirmed. Census data from 2016 showed Indigenous children under 14 — who made up 7.7 per cent of the child population — accounted for 52 per cent of kids in foster care. The government is also still appealing the human rights tribunal compensation order, though Justice Minister David Lametti said Tuesday that it will drop that legal action when a final settlement deal is reached outside of court. The human rights tribunal ruled in 2016 that Ottawa’s underfunding of social services for First Nations kids amounted to racial discrimination. Then, last September, the Federal Court dismissed Ottawa’s appeal of the human rights tribunal decision, prompting the government to start negotiations mediated by former senator Murray Sinclair this fall.

Source: thestar January 05, 2022 22:58 UTC