Ottawa confirms Jordan's Principle of equal care for First Nations children

The federal government has delivered a response to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal agreeing to address gapsin the application ofJordan's Principle without delaythe rule adopted by the House of Commons in 2007 ensuring equal health care access for First Nations children.

On April 26, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal gave theDepartment of Indigenous Affairs two weeks to respond to an order to implement the principle immediately and broadly. By responding today, the federal government met the imposed deadline.

• Ottawa has until today to confirm equal child welfare for First Nations
• Tribunal orders federal government to ensure services for Aboriginal kids
• Stop using 'racial discrimination as fiscal restraint,' Cindy Blackstock says

Today's written response to the tribunalincludes twokey measures to reach that goal.

The first states that when working out who will pay for a given treatment, disputes between different federal departments over which will pay for carewill be resolved after the patient has been treated.

Traditionally, there has been confusion over which level of government should pay to treat First Nations children. While health care is provided by the province,Indigenous peoples are a federal responsibility.

SENATOR SINCLAIR ON INDIGENOUS RIGHTS

8 years ago

Duration 9:20

SENATOR MURRAY SINCLAIR ON CANADA'S CHANGE OF STANCE ON UNITED NATIONS INDIGENOUS RIGHTS DECLARATION.

The crux ofJordan's Principle is that when a patient needs medical treatment, that treatment should be provided immediately and any issues over which level of government should pay for that treatment must be resolved after the patient has been taken care of.

In adoptingJordan's Principle, thefederal government agreed to set aside disputes between different levels of government, provincial or federal,but disputes between which federal government department was responsible to pay for the treatment werestill holding up the provision of care.

Today's response from the government eliminated this additional bureaucratic speed bump.

The second measure expanded the number of children that can receive medical treatment. Previously a patient had tohave "multiple disabilities requiring multiple service providers," to qualify for immediate treatment that practice has now been eliminated.

Wait and see

The lawyer forCindy Blackstock, the executive director ofthe First Nations Child and FamilyCaring Society of Canada which spearheaded the case, said the government's response is vague.

"We will wait to look for information on how cases are actually handled, how this will be implemented,"SbastienGrammondsaid in an email.

Jordan's Principle is named after Jordan River Anderson,a four-year-old boy with complex needs who died in hospital in 2005 after a drawn-out court battle between the federal government and Manitoba over his home care costs.

Blackstock, along with the Assembly of First Nations, launched the lawsuit against the federal government in February 2007.

Read the government's response to theCanadian Human Rights Tribunal: