Human rights tribunal to rule whether Canada discriminated against First Nations children on reserves

Nine emotional years after she first challenged thefederal government, First Nations child welfare advocate CindyBlackstock is awaiting a ruling from the Canadian Human RightsTribunal that will determine if Canada has discriminated againstchildren on reserves.

Blackstock is the executive director of The First Nations Childand Family Caring Society of Canada, which filed the complaint withthe Assembly of First Nations in 2007.

It argued the federal government failed to provide First Nationschildren the same level of welfare services that exist elsewhere,contrary to the Canadian Human Rights Act. It said this wasdiscrimination on racial grounds.

• Closing arguments begin in case of underfunding of aboriginal child services
• Ottawa fights charge it discriminates against aboriginal kids

A lot has changed during the course of this fight, Blackstocksaid.

"When I look back nine years and I think about what's changed inthe world, to give it some context ... Obama became the first ...African-American U.S. president and Prime Minister Harper came andwent," she said. "But most importantly, a whole generation grew up... nine years is such a long time in a child's life."

It is extraordinary this case had to be filed in the first place,Blackstock said.

"Everyday I wake up and I ask myself, 'why did we have to bringthe government of Canada to court to get them to treat FirstNationschildren fairly?"'

Aboriginal child welfare was one of the central issues flagged inthe report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which spentsix years examining Canada's residential school legacy.

The report said governments, including at the federal level, needto reduce the number of aboriginal children taken into care byproviding adequate resources for communities and child-welfare
organizations.

It also called for child-welfare legislation that sets national standards. The Liberal government has committed to implementing all of the suggestions from the TRC, including an overhaul of child welfare, but Blackstock said she is keen to see action and noted the legally binding tribunal decision could take this out of the government's discretion.

Government retaliation

During the lengthy dispute, Blackstock suffered personal hardship. In 2013, then-privacy commissioner Jennifer Stoddart found that two government departments had overstepped in monitoring Blackstock and her personal Facebook account.

Stoddart said the Aboriginal Affairs Department and the JusticeDepartment violated the spirit, if not the intent, of the PrivacyAct by compiling information from Blackstock's personal social mediapage.

Both departments agreed to stop the monitoring, destroy personalinformation not directly linked to federal policy and set up a newsystem to ensure such surveillance did not happen again.

Last spring, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal found that agovernment official "retaliated" against Blackstock and it awardedher $20,000 for pain and suffering. She donated the money tochildren's charities.

• Aboriginal activist claims vindication in $20,000 ruling against feds

That dispute centred on a December 2009 meeting at theministerial headquarters in Gatineau, Que. where Blackstock said shewas the only person barred from a gathering with the chiefs ofOntario.

First Nations children and their families helped her deal withthese challenges, she said.

"Every time I would feel exhausted, and there were many, everytime I would feel afraid, and there were some, given thesurveillance and other things, every time I would just feel sad andwant to give up, I'd just think about them," Blackstock said.

"They have been my constant source of inspiration, thosechildren and their families across this country. I just knew that Icould never give up."

The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal is expected to publish itsruling onlineon Tuesdaymorning.