Rights commission fights for children on reserves

The Canadian Human Rights Commission is heading to Federal Court to fight a ruling it says will deny basic rights to thousands of vulnerable children on First Nations reserves.

The Commission will be joined in court by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, which originally filed a complaint accusing the federal government of racial discrimination.

The ruling, issued earlier this week by Shirish Chotalia, chair of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, favoured the federal government, which is responsible for providing services to children on reserves. (Across Canada, provincial and territorial governments are responsible for all off-reserve children's services).

"In issuing this ruling, Shirish Chotalia in effect legalized racial discrimination against vulnerable children on reserve by the federal government," said Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the Caring Society.

The ruling coincided with a damning criticism of Canada by the United Nations Human Rights Council.

"Canada committed to actively pursue the implementation of human rights domestically, including with respect to indigenous peoples, and noted that the promotion and protection of human rights was an integral part of its foreign policy," said the Council report.

"Despite these pledges, aspects of Canada's foreign policy seemed to be void of human rights considerations, and the human rights situation of indigenous peoples in Canada remained poor. "

Blackstock accused Chotalia of ignoring "overwhelming evidence of the inequity and harm experienced by First Nations children on reserves.

"She was in possession of numerous reports confirming the problems such as the Auditor General of Canada (2008), the Standing Committee on Public Accounts (2009) and internal documents from the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. Instead (she) dismissed the case on a legal technicality."

At any given time about 6,000 native children are in foster care, a direct result of inadequate federal funding, say human rights lawyers.

Caring Society lawyer Paul Champ says Chotalia has produced a "formulaic ruling without an understand of the unique status under the Constitution of First Nations people.

The ruling says the federal government can't be held responsible for differences in services simply because they can be compared to another service provider.

"Our position is that it is the same service governed by the same statutes," said Champ. "The only difference is who delivers the services."

Human Rights Commission senior counsel Philippe Dufresne says the case "is huge because it deals with the human rights and welfare of very vulnerable children living on reserves.

"We are disappointed with this ruling because it has the potential of limiting access to the Human Rights Act to some of the most vulnerable," he added.

"It is a concern for us because it may have an impact on other services such as police, health and education on reserve."

The Federal Court is expected to rule quickly on the appeal.


(2011-3-17/ottawacitizen.com)