The provincial government and Saskatoon Tribal Council have come to an agreement in a three-year-old legal battle in the area of child and family services.
Citing an inability to gain access to child welfare files, the province moved to take over jurisdiction of child and family services in STC First Nations in 2016.
STC Chief Mark Arcand says the tribal council is just happy to put the dispute behind them.
“For us at STC it’s a big step to building partnerships and relationships with the province,” he says. “Because when we didn’t have our agency it was very tough on our tribal council and our member First Nations that didn’t get the funding to come along with some of the programs that could be benefitting our children and families. So, today’s a big day.”
The agreement includes something called a First Contact Panel Protocol where the two sides will work more closely together on child welfare files.
STC will now join the 17 other First Nations agencies that are currently working with the province in child and family services.
Last week, the Trudeau government introduced legislation which aims to give Indigenous communities more control of child and family services.
Last fall, STC’s child and family services agency received $50 million over five years from the federal government.
(PHOTO: STC Chief Mark Arcand. File photo.)