No Decision Yet On ICFS Human Rights Complaint

No Decision Yet On ICFS Human Rights Complaint

Friday, June 04, 2010 at 15:02

It could be a few weeks before we know whether or not a human rights complaint against the federal government over on-reserve child welfare services goes forward.

This week, lawyers for the government argued against the challenge filed by the Assembly of First Nations and a lobby group for First Nations children on reserves.

The parties say the government is discriminating against children who are in the care of child and family services agencies on-reserve, because it provides them with 22 per cent less funding than kids in other jurisdictions.

According to an outside analyst, the government is arguing on the basis that funding decisions fall outside the purview of the Canadian Human Rights Act.

An official at the Canadian Humans Rights Tribunal says there is no way of knowing how long it will take to render a decision, but it likely won’t be today.