FSIN CALLS FOR C-92 IMPLEMENTATION FUNDING AS 1st ANNIVERSARY PASSES
- Jun 23, 2020
- 2 min read
(Treaty 6 Territory, Saskatoon, SK) — The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) Executive calls on the Federal Government to invest in implementation of Act C-92 as the 1st anniversary of the bill receiving Royal Assent, June 21st, 2019, passes without funding.
“There is a disturbing irony that the first year anniversary of Act C-92 falls on both National Aboriginal Day and Father’s Day as another year passes without the promised change to the child welfare system in Canada,” said FSIN Vice Chief David Pratt. “Act C-92 was a promise Canada made to First Nations children for a better tomorrow. Now one year later, that promise remains broken.”
Act C-92 is intended to keep First Nations children and youth connected to their families and communities and under the authority and jurisdiction of First Nations. The Act requires that the best interests of each child be paramount and supports the transition to First Nations at a pace to be determine by each First Nation and their agencies. First Nations have the inherent and human right to jurisdiction over their children.
“Some First Nations are planning to move forward without funding announced while others are apprehensive without funding readily available as they could end up facing huge deficits,” says FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron. “It is a huge risk and First Nations have been burned taking such risks before. They are being burned now. For example, First Nations and their agencies are being denied reimbursements for prevention funding that were deemed eligible the year prior. Canada keeps changing the rules leaving First Nations and their agencies holding the bag.”
Canada invested in prevention funding in response to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling that found Canada guilty of discriminating against First Nations children-in-care through deliberate underfunding. Prevention funding helps First Nations work with at-risk families to restore safe and thriving homes for children and youth breaking the cycle of issues caused by the residential school and the 60’scoop crises. Changes to the rules have left deficits in the millions in Saskatchewan.
“If you see most of a parent’s children dropping out of school, in jail or dying while in the care of that parent, not only would you question their parenting skills, you would also question their motives,” says Vice Chief Pratt. “Canada, and the provinces, insert themselves as parent with all the legal and moral responsibility for each child apprehended. They are failing epically when it comes to First Nations children.”
