The federal government is celebrating the two-year anniversary of the passing of a bill designed to end the over-representation of Indigenous children in care.
The Act entitled respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families was put into place on January 6, 2020.
Among the goals of the Act is to help Indigenous groups take over jurisdiction of their child and family services.
Minister of Indigenous Services, Patty Hajdu, issued a statement on Thursday to mark the anniversary of the passing of the Act.
“This historic, co-developed legislation affirms the jurisdiction of First Nations, Inuit and Métis groups, communities and peoples in relation to child and family services and sets out national principles for the best interests of the child, cultural continuity and substantive equality to help guide the delivery of services to Indigenous children,” said Hajdu in the statement. “Canada is committed to ending the ongoing issue of vast over-representation of Indigenous children in care by investing in a path led by First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples so that Indigenous children have the opportunity to grow up in their communities, surrounded by loved ones and immersed in their culture. “
In July of 2020, Cowessess First Nation became the first Indigenous governing group to sign an agreement under the act giving them jurisdiction over their child and family services.
Since then the federal government says a total of 59 Indigenous governing bodies have expressed interest, representing more than 120 Indigenous groups, communities and people. Of this, Ottawa says, 18 coordination agreement discussion tables have been established.
“To support the implementation of the Act, capacity-building funding is available to support Indigenous groups, communities and peoples as they work within and across their communities to build strong foundations to exercise jurisdiction in relation to child and family services,” read the statement from Patty Hajdu. “To date, the Government of Canada has provided over $56 million to 115 Indigenous groups preparing to undertake coordination agreement discussions.”
The anniversary of the act comes two days after the federal government announced a $40 billion dollar settlement for those harmed by the discriminatory practices of Canada’s child welfare system.