September 30 is Orange Shirt Day, also known as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society describes Orange Shirt Day an “an opportunity for education, reflection, truth-telling and taking action” on reconciliation in the form of the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission “to redress the legacy of the residential school system.”
While Orange Shirt Day has been observed since 2013, the federal government elevated it to a statutory holiday for federal workers and workers in federally regulated workplaces in 2021.
Days of observance are important. But they are not some kind of magic broom which sweeps away the genocidal impact that the residential school system has had on Indigenous communities for over a century.
It says a lot about the government and our entire society that, just four weeks before Orange Shirt Day, the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society issued an information sheet on the government’s non-compliance with Canadian Human Rights Tribunal orders on Jordan’s Principle. This is a child-first and needs-based principle to ensure that First Nations children living on and off reserve have equitable access to all government funded public services. Specifically, Jordan’s Principle states that First Nations children should not be denied access to public services while governments fight over who will pay for them.
As the Caring Society says, “Jordan’s Principle ensures that First Nations children can access all public services when they need them. Services need to be culturally based and take into full account the historical disadvantage linked to colonization that many First Nations children live with. The government of first contact pays for the service and resolves jurisdictional/payment disputes later.”
In December 2023, the Caring Society filed a non-compliance motion with the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, noting that the federal government is habitually and purposefully failing to adhere to Jordan’s Principle, despite Tribunal orders to do so. Ottawa has opposed the noncompliance motion, and a hearing was scheduled for September 10-12.
The Caring Society identifies six specific concerns regarding the government’s non-compliance. These include imposing additional eligibility criteria, using ineffective methods for receiving and processing requests, failing to adhere to Tribunal timelines including in urgent cases, failing to provide funding in a reasonable time frame, failing to adopt sufficient accountability mechanisms, and using administrative measures to shield itself from non-compliance.
This is not the first time the federal government has defied Tribunal orders regarding its responsibilities to First Nations children. In 2016, Ottawa was ordered to immediately stop discrimination in the First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) Program, and to implement Jordan’s Principle to prevent such discrimination from recurring.
When Canada did not carry out these orders, the Tribunal issued nearly 30 subsequent orders including non-compliance orders.
Last year, on September 30, Justin Trudeau issued a statement encouraging everyone “to wear orange in recognition that every child matters and to participate in Indigenous-led events to recognize and reflect on the ongoing legacy of the residential school system. Reconciliation is not the responsibility of Indigenous Peoples – it is the responsibility of all of us. It’s our responsibility to listen to, learn from, and give space to First Nations, Inuit, and Métis voices and stories, and face the truth of our past to build a fairer, more equitable, and more inclusive Canada for the generations to come.”
Clearly, however, the prime minister and his government believe that their responsibility for reconciliation doesn’t include implementing the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, or even abiding by orders from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.
Ottawa must be forced to act. As the Caring Society states, “First Nations children only have one childhood, and they deserve nothing less.” On September 30 and every day, fight for Indigenous justice!
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