We are a group of concerned citizens urging Prime Minister Trudeau and the Canadian government to support culturally based equity for First Nations children.

Background

In a landmark ruling released on January 26, 2016, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that the Canadian government is racially discriminating against 163,000 First Nations children and their families by providing flawed and inequitable child welfare services ("FNCFS Program") and failing to implement Jordan's Principle to ensure equitable access to government services available to other children. Learn more

Globe & Mail, Open Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
Published Saturday September 23, 2017

How you can help

1. Sign our petition and share on your social media using the hashtag: #FirstNationsChildrenNOW
2. Follow us on:
   

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3. Take selfie with a placard that either uses the tagline, “First Nations Children NOW”, or a statement of your choice. See example
   Include the following in your post:
   
   Twitter
   @JustinTrudeau [Your Statement] #FirstNationsChildrenNOW
   
   Facebook
   @JustinPJTrudeau [Your Statement] #FirstNationsChildrenNOW
   
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   @justinpjtrudeau [Your Statement] #FirstNationsChildrenNOW

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Open Letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau

Dear Prime Minister,

We write as a group of concerned citizens to urge you and the Canadian gov't to support culturally based equity for First Nations children. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission concluded that Canada fundamentally must acknowledge and remedy its unjust treatment of Indigenous peoples. While we are concerned for and committed to the well-being of all Indigenous children, First Nations children are uniquely impacted by federal underfunding of services on-reserve. It is unacceptable that the federal government does not provide First Nations children, youth and families with equitable education, health care, child welfare and basics like clean drinking water.

We are deeply moved by the statements of residential school Survivors recounting the harm they experienced, separated from their families, communities, cultures and languages. We cannot stand by while another generation of children is removed from their families because the federal government fails to fund child welfare services equitably, as evidenced by the dramatic over-representation of First Nations children in child welfare care. This generation of First Nations children must be treated fairly with the best opportunity for a healthy and happy childhood.

As you will remember, your government welcomed the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal’s (the Tribunal’s) decision of January 2016, which found that federal underfunding of First Nations child welfare and failure to ensure equitable access to public services constituted a clear breach of the Canadian Human Rights Act. The government saw the Tribunal’s decision as a vital first step in achieving substantive equality for First Nations children. Unfortunately, the Tribunal has since issued several non-compliance orders against your government. Three of these orders came after the Tribunal considered the additional investments made for child and family services in Budget 2016. Just a month ago your government elected to seek judicial review of one such order by the Tribunal, a choice which we cannot understand or support. Your government has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on litigation to resist full implementation of the Tribunal’s decisions – a move that is incompatible with your pledged support for a new partnership with First Nations, and all Indigenous people in Canada and their governments.

Current funding levels are insufficient to address the impacts of long-standing federal inequities and meet the real needs of First Nations children. We are asking you to implement the Tribunal’s decisions immediately, drop the application for judicial review and work with First Nations to end inequalities in all service areas. We know there is a better path forward, and we ask that you direct the Ministers of Justice, Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development, and Health to meet directly with those who have brought the human rights complaint to the Tribunal without delay. As your government approaches the half-way point of its mandate, we respectfully remind you that equity for First Nations children is the greatest piece of unfinished business on the national agenda.

Signatories:
Senator Murray Sinclair
Bob Rae PC CC OOnt QC
Sheila Fraser
Shelagh Day C.M.
Gordon Ritchie
Muzzamil Imran
Linda Fraser
Heather Farnworth
Shanly Arnett
Sarah Dinnick
Carol Weinbaum
Barb Collombin
Kate Robson
Geoff Cape
Edward Morawski
Atom Egoyan
Arsinée Khanjian
Carol Sewell
Brian Imrie
Karen Goos
Althea Macdonald
Tracy Pryce
Mimi Joh
Henry Jackman
John Carnella
John Filipetti
Tara Black
David Allan
Mary Allan
Susanne Truelsen
Kate Daniels
Mary Wellner
Cheryl Milne
Mark Kingwell
Martin Katz
Victoria Jackman
Elisa Nuyten
Barbara Fallon
Andrew Livingston
David Moos
Julie Moos
Diana Carradine
Helene Clarkson