Federal Court says Canada acted ‘unreasonably’ in denying request to repair home

By Alessia Passafiume The Federal Court says Indigenous Services Canada acted unreasonably to deny funding for mould removal in a house for two First Nations children with asthma under its Jordan’s Principle program. The principle stipulates that when a First Nations child needs health, social or educational services they are to receive them from the government first approached, with questions about final jurisdiction worked out afterward. It’s named after Jordan River Anderson of Norway House Cree Nation in Manitoba who died at five years old without ever leaving the hospital because federal and provincial governments couldn’t decide who should pay for his at-home care. Joanne Powless, the children’s grandmother, has been trying to get the department to fund mould remediation in their on-reserve home since 2022 under that principle, but…

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