OTTAWA — The National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations says the advocacy body's executive team will meet in coming days to discuss next steps after chiefs voted against a $47.8-billion child welfare reform deal with Canada and approved a new negotiation mandate.
"We also recognize the success of the campaign that defeated this resolution. You spoke with passion, and you convinced the majority to vote against this $47.8-billion national agreement," Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak said in closing remarks as the special chiefs assembly wrapped up in Calgary.
"There is no getting around the fact that this agreement was too much of a threat to the status quo to the industry that has been built on taking First Nations children from their families."
The executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, which helped launch a discrimination case against Canada that lead to the deal, said "that's an unfortunate characterization of the chiefs taking a look at the agreement with their own experts and own legal staff and making an informed decision that's best for them."
"I respect the National Chief, and I look forward to kind of working with her and everyone to make sure that we get this across the finish line," Cindy Blackstock said.
The defeated deal was struck between Canada, the Chiefs of Ontario, Nishnawbe Aski Nation and the Assembly of First Nations in July after a nearly two-decade legal fight over the federal government's underfunding of on-reserve child welfare services.
The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal said that was discriminatory because it meant kids living on reserve were given less services than those living off reserve.
The tribunal tasked Canada with reaching an agreement with First Nations to reform the system, and also with compensating children who were torn from their families and put in foster care.
Before the deal was announced in July, three members of the AFN's executive team wrote letters to the national chief saying they feared the deal was being negotiated in secret, and asked for a change in course. They also said the AFN was attempting to sideline the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society from negotiations.
Those concerns largely remained when the deal was announced in a closed-door meeting at the AFN's last gathering, with chiefs questioning how the reforms will work on the ground, and service providers saying their funding levels will be significantly cut which would impact their ability to do their work effectively.
Blackstock found support from 267 out of 414 chiefs who voted against a resolution calling for the deal to be approved.
She stressed multiple times over the duration of the assembly that the deal didn't go far enough to protect First Nations children from discrimination, and told chiefs she could not endorse the deal as it stands.
"I want to see a day when we get the discrimination stopped and it doesn't happen again — and we can get there," Blackstock said to the assembly Thursday.
"Not in a long time; we got all the tools to be able to get there."
Woodhouse Nepinak stressed on Wednesday and Thursday that a change in government could throw the reforms into question, while Blackstock highlighted the reforms are required by a legal order, not political will.
Squamish Nation chairperson Khelsilem said some of the rhetoric amounted to "fearmongering."
"This is a lesson for the Assembly of First Nations, for the staff and legal, for the advisers, for the portfolio holder who has worked on this deal," he said as he introduced a resolution Friday morning calling for a new negotiation mandate.
"The way we got here was not the way we should have done this. There's a better way forward."
Two resolutions passed Friday call for the creation of a children's chiefs' commission comprised of leadership from all regions in the country, and for a new negotiation and legal team.
Khelsilem said the new negotiation mandate was developed with about 50 leaders from across the country, and hopes it will set a positive path forward in the best interest of kids in care after a fairly testy special chiefs assembly. He also said the new mandate will address "flaws" highlighted by chiefs across the country, and will ensure there is more transparency.
"We didn't have to be in a situation where we had to vote down a flawed agreement and then create a direction to be able to get this back on track," he said to chiefs.
"We didn't have to be here if the process that was used to create the (final settlement agreement) was a meaningful process that meaningfully respected and consulted First Nations, that allowed for meaningful dialogue to improve that agreement."
In a statement, a spokesperson for the minister of Indigenous Services said Canada worked closely with First Nations on this deal, and as it was being amended.
"The agreement that chiefs in assembly rejected yesterday is the final product of those close negotiations," Jennifer Kozelj said.
"Canada remains steadfast in its commitment to reform the First Nations child and family services program so that children grow up knowing who they are and where they belong."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 18, 2024.
Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press
