The Canadian government on Friday appealed a federal court decision upholding a ruling that it individually compensate indigenous children and their caregivers harmed by a discriminatory welfare system, but said it would pause the appeal while engaging in talks with the initial complainants.
The decision is the latest twist in a 14-year legal battle, but also a sign that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government, which has long pledged its commitment to indigenous people, feels its chances of success are better outside the courtroom.
It comes against a backdrop of key legal victories for indigenous peoples in Canada – on human rights, treaty rights and fiduciary duty. The accumulation of successes, some lawyers say, could make governments more willing to talk rather than take on battles they can’t win.
The government filed the appeal on Friday, just ahead of a deadline, but put it on hold and sought two months of talks starting Monday to reach a settlement. The federal decision upheld a ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
The talks will focus on compensating indigenous children, long-term reform of the indigenous child welfare system and funding to support delivery of child and family services, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said in a statement. She later told reporters she hopes the approach will build “a better system, an equitable system, a compassionate system where no more harm is done.”
Some 55,000 children are affected by the compensation decision, estimated to cost billions of dollars to government. Government ministers would not say how much the government had offered to obtain an agreement to talk.
Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Family and Child Caring Society that brought the complaint, said they would not agree to anything below the C$40,000 per child compensation the Human Rights Tribunal mandated.
“What we are interested in is stopping the discrimination to create more victims,” she told Reuters. “What we’re not prepared to do is negotiate them out of their legal liability.”
‘TURNING POINT’
Recent wins include a Supreme Court order https://decisions.scc-csc.ca/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/18955/index.do to recalculate payment for century-old actions, basing compensation not on the bare minimum a government might have done in a case involving Lac Seul First Nation but what Lac Seul First Nation lost in the process.
In another case, a court certified a class action on behalf of indigenous people alleging police brutality in Canada’s northern territories – the first certified class action alleging systemic discrimination by a police force in Canada, said James Sayce, a lawyer representing the plaintiffs. The federal government is fighting the certification.
In British Columbia, Blueberry River First Nation won a victory that was unique in its focus on the diminishment of treaty rights and the cumulative effects of industrial development, said lawyer Paul Seaman, leader of Gowling WLG’s Indigenous Law Group.
“This is a moment of reckoning,” Bruce McIvor, a partner at First Peoples Law in Vancouver, said earlier this year of recent indigenous cases in Canada. Governments have pledged reconciliation, he said. Now Canadians expect them to “live up to the rhetoric.”
After years of urging governments and indigenous groups to negotiate rather than litigate, Canadian judges seem to have decided “we can’t just continue to try and maintain the status quo,” said University of Victoria law professor Alan Hanna.
That may ultimately make future court cases unnecessary if governments see they won’t succeed through litigation, said lawyer Lanise Hayes, head of Nelligan Law’s Indigenous Law practice group.
“We probably are at a turning point … where these situations are not things that indigenous people have to go to court and fight over for years.”
(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; editing by Diane Craft and Leslie Adler)
PORT ALBERNI, B.C. – RCMP say the body of a second person has been found inside their vehicle after a road washed away amid pouring rain on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
Police say two vehicles went into the Sarita River when Bamfield Road washed out on Saturday as an atmospheric river hammered southern B.C.
The body of the other driver was found Sunday.
More coming.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
The B.C. Greens say Sonia Furstenau will be staying on as party leader, despite losing her seat in the legislature in Saturday’s provincial election.
The party says in a statement that its two newly elected MLAs, Jeremy Valeriote and Rob Botterell, support Furstenau’s leadership as they “navigate the prospect of having the balance of power in the legislature.”
Neither the NDP led by Premier David Eby nor the B.C. Conservatives led by John Rustad secured a majority in the election, with two recounts set to take place from Oct. 26 to 28.
Eby says in a news conference that while the election outcome is uncertain, it’s “very likely” that the NDP would need the support of others to pass legislation.
He says he reached out to Furstenau on election night to congratulate her on the Greens’ showing.
But he says the Green party has told the NDP they are “not ready yet” for a conversation about a minority government deal.
The Conservatives went from taking less than two per cent of the vote in 2020 to being elected or leading in 45 ridings, two short of a majority and only one behind the NDP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 22, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Toronto FC captain Jonathan Osorio is making a difference, 4,175 kilometres away from home.
The 32-year-old Canadian international midfielder, whose parents hail from Colombia, has been working with the Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization, a charity whose goal is to help disadvantaged youth in the South American country.
Osorio has worked behind the scenes, with no fanfare.
Until now, with his benevolence resulting in becoming Toronto FC’s nominee for the Audi Goals Drive Progress Impact Award, which honours an MLS player “who showed outstanding dedication to charitable efforts and serving the community” during the 2024 season.”
Other nominees include Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter and CF Montreal goalkeeper Jonathan Sirois.
The winner will be announced in late November.
The Canadian Colombian Children’s Organization (CCCO) is run entirely by volunteers like Monica Figueredo and Claudia Soler. Founded in 1991, it received charitable status in 2005.
The charity currently has four projects on the go: two in Medellin and one each in Armenia and Barranquilla.
They include a school, a home for young girls whose parents are addicted to drugs, after-school and weekend programs for children in a disadvantaged neighbourhood, and nutrition and education help for underprivileged youth.
The organization heard about Osorio and was put in contact with him via an intermediary, which led to a lunch meeting. Osorio did his due diligence and soon got back to the charity with his decision.
“It was something that I wanted to be a part of right away,” said Osorio, whose lone regret is that he didn’t get involved sooner.
“I’m fortunate now that to help more now that I could have back then,” he added. “The timing actually worked out for everybody. For the last three years I have donated to their cause and we’ve built a couple of (football) fields in different cities over there in the schools.”
His father visited one of the sites in Armenia close to his hometown.
“He said it was amazing, the kids, how grateful they are to be able to play on any pitch, really,” said Osorio. “But to be playing on a new pitch, they’re just so grateful and so humble.
“It really makes it worth it being part of this organization.”
The collaboration has also made Osorio take stock.
“We’re very fortunate here in Canada, I think, for the most part. Kids get to go to school and have a roof over their head and things like that. In Colombia, it’s not really the same case. My father and his family grew up in tough conditions, so giving back is like giving back to my father.”
Osorio’s help has been a godsend to the charity.
“We were so surprised with how willing he was,” said Soler.
The TFC skipper has helped pay for a football field in Armenia as well as an ambitious sports complex under construction in Barranquilla.
“It’s been great for them,” Figueredo said of the pitch in Armenia. “Because when they go to school, now they have a proper place to train.”
Osorio has also sent videos encouraging the kids to stay active — as well as shipping soccer balls and signed jerseys their way.
“They know more about Jonathan than the other players in Colombia,” Figueredo said. “That’s the funny part. Even though he’s far away, they’ve connected with him.”
“They feel that they have a future, that they can do more,” she added. “Seeing that was really, really great.”
The kids also followed Osorio through the 2022 World Cup and this summer’s Copa America.
Back home, Osorio has also attended the charity’s annual golf tournament, helping raise funds.
A Toronto native, he has long donated four tickets for every TFC home game to the Hospital for Sick Children.
Vancouver’s Berhalter was nominated for his involvement in the Whitecaps’ partnership with B.C. Children’s Hospital while Montreal’s Sirois was chosen for his work with the Montreal Impact Foundation.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2024.
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