Ottawa claims child welfare talks stalled over AFN’s ‘unreasonable’ requests

By Alessia Passafiume The federal government has told the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal that negotiations with the Assembly of First Nations on reforming the child welfare system are stalled and the AFN’s requests are “unreasonable.” In a May 15 filing to the tribunal, Ottawa said it has made “intensive and meaningful efforts” to reform the system since 2016, when the tribunal concluded that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding the on-reserve child welfare system. But Ottawa told the tribunal those negotiations with the AFN are “no longer working” and there is no “practical utility” to continuing consultations. “Canada has met its obligations under the Tribunal’s consultation orders, which do not require that Canada consult indefinitely or until the complainants obtain the variable outcomes they seek,”…

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