The Liberal government is preparing to spend $40 billion to compensate First Nations children harmed by Ottawa's underfunding of child and family services on reserve, as well as on reforming the current system.
Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland plans to release an updated accounting of federal finances today and provide the government's economic outlook for the coming months.
The parliamentary budget office says it could cost the federal government up to $15 billion to compensate First Nations families and children impacted by the child welfare system, as well as denials or delays of essential services.
The federal government's appeal of a ruling that expanded First Nations children's rights to public services is "a slap in the face," says the Assembly of First Nations.
The Innu Nation has filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission alleging the federal government spends more money removing children from homes than keeping families together.
First Nations chiefs are expressing outrage and disappointment at the federal government's decision to appeal a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling ordering Ottawa to pay billions of dollars in compensation to First Nations children and their families separated by a chronically underfunded child-welfare system.
Andrew Scheer was out promoting his plan to tackle gang-related violence on Friday, October 4, 2019, but found himself on the defensive about his dual citizenship and other tight spots instead of the signature Conservative tough-on-crime agenda.
A Friday, September 6, 2019, ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal about Canada's treatment of Indigenous children demands a full investigation of the federal Indigenous-affairs department, says child-welfare advocate Cindy Blackstock.
Indigenous children face the highest rates of poverty in the country, with almost one in every two living in households with low incomes, says a new study that shows little improvement in the situation over the last decade.