The government of Canada discriminated against more than 160,000 native children by providing less money for social services. (File Photo)
The government of Canada discriminated against more than 160,000 native children by providing less money for social services in aboriginal communities than elsewhere in the country, a tribunal ruled yesterday.
The groundbreaking ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ends a nine-year legal battle brought by the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, and could end up costing the government billions of dollars in fixes and damages.
The plaintiffs had asked for an award of Can$20,000 per child impacted by the underfunding, but a settlement amount has yet to be decided.
Native children received 22 to 34 percent less funding than other Canadian children, according to government figures cited in the ruling.
Ottawa said it would not challenge the decision and instead would work with native leaders on a fix.
"It is our hope that this decision will be the start of a new era in Canada," the commission said. "One where every child -- no matter who they are or where they live -- has the same opportunity to grow up safe, with the love and support of their families."
One consequence of the persistent underfunding of services, the commission said, was a much greater proportion of aboriginal children being needlessly taken from their homes and put into foster care.
According to Statistics Canada, 48 percent of 30,000 children who were in foster care across Canada in 2011 were aboriginal, while natives account for just 4.3 percent of the population.
"These adverse impacts perpetuate the historical disadvantage and trauma suffered by aboriginal people," the ruling said.
Cindy Blackstock of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, who was a central figure in the fight, said she hoped "one thing we can get... right is raising a generation of First Nations children that don't have to recover from their childhoods anymore."
Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett agreed, saying: "We have to start at making sure that First Nations, Inuit and Metis children in this country get the same start in life as all other Canadian children."