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The federal government of Canada will now fight the certification of a proposed child welfare class action lawsuit over claims that programs for First Nation children are purposefully underfunded, according to several recent reports.
CBC News reports that Justice Canada emailed the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the proposed class action lawsuit on Jan. 23, letting them know that Ottawa will not yet consent to certification of the lawsuit. The move by the federal government to oppose the child welfare class action lawsuit reportedly comes less than two months after pledges to support the class action lawsuit.
“We have been working in concert with counsel for Moushoom to reach mutually agreed upon terms to certify the class action lawsuit. We are asking for additional time to reach these terms, given the significance of this matter,” explained Indigenous Services Canada, which is the lead department on the file. “As we have said, we must get this right. We continue to work with all parties to move this important matter forward.”
The proposed child welfare class action lawsuit was lodged in March of 2019. The plaintiffs are seeking $6 billion on behalf of First Nation children who allegedly suffered because of underfunding of child welfare programs on reserves.
The plaintiffs in the proposed child welfare class action lawsuit say that they suffered because of the lack of resources provided by the federal government to the child welfare and health care systems.
One plaintiff, from Pictou Landing First Nation in Nova Scotia, has cerebral palsy, spinal curvature, and autism. He alleges that he received subpar medical services on the reserve he lived on.
The other plaintiff, from from Lac Simon Anishnabe Nation, Que., alleges that he was shuffled through 14 foster homes from the age of 14 to 18.
Canada’s federal government had reportedly agreed to work with the lawyers representing the plaintiffs in the proposed child welfare class action lawsuit. According to CBC News, on Nov. 25, 2019, Justice Canada announced that it would support settlement talks, including certification of the Class – a move necessary to turn the proposed case into a class action lawsuit.
“The Government of Canada is committed to seeking a comprehensive settlement on compensation that will ensure long-term benefits for individuals and families and enable community healing,” said a representative for Justice Canada in a statement issued in November. “To that end, we will work with plaintiffs’ counsel with the goal of moving forward with certification of the [child welfare class action lawsuit].”
The lawyers for the plaintiffs reportedly expressed dismay at this move by Canada’s federal government.
“We view that as a major setback and it’s a major disappointment,” said one of the lawyers, according to APT News. “They’ve served materials to oppose certification, which is inconsistent with what they said publicly.”
Are you affected by the proposed child welfare class action lawsuit? Tell us what you think in the comments below.
The plaintiffs are represented by David Sterns, Mohsen Seddigh and Jonathan Schachter of Sotos LLP and Robert Kugler, Pierre Boivin and William Colish of Kugler Kandestin LLP.
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10 thoughts onFederal Government Fights Proposed Child Welfare Class Action
my daughter is taken by the cps. and she is been in the system until this moment. she was force to watch two of her friends minor being molested by the grandmothers b.f. which the kids parent are the court appointed legal guardian. when one day she ask her mom to watch the kids includingcmy daughter . this happed when my daughter was only 9 or 10 yrs old and i was not aware of this .until just last year. there were report submitted but there was no case was open the predator still out never convicted.and i was not being inform of this happening .im the patermal mother.. i would like to ask not to mention my name in this matter. i had ask some lawyer in regards to this but i cost a lot and i cant afford . according to my daughter that she already had forget everything and had theraphy.but for me as the mother the child molester still out there.and im not having a peace of mind until that person goes to jail.
I was taking from my home living on a white land Farm far from home were do I applythey were getting the money from taking car of me I never seen anything for getting new clothing or anything so they kept the money from me the Government money .
How do we apply for this because there are so many natives suffering through this mow
Has anyone reached out to you about your question because I’d like some information to about how we can Apply as well I was a child in the system and yeah it wasn’t very fun being first nations
I reported this three years ago and they came back with some so fabricated and false and had no order but I’m willing to stand up too many children suffering and they tear get low income families and disabled suffering for 10 plus years is not equality and shows it’s a target and a problem need to be addressed our children need to be protected and safe as well as the parents
I was done this for over a year and every time some one called them they did this to my children even told them that they will never return home because I was crazy they told my children all kind of lies and even gave custody to my children to someone that had let one got touched inappropriately and it was noted hey was never to have my children Now it has resulted in so many mental issues and no trust and a very badly broken set of hearts and the one I get gave one of my children to left her to fend for herself and she is disabled it gets deep but I rather not enclose some information on this site
I reported this three years ago and they came back with some so fabricated and false and had no order but I’m willing to stand up too many children suffering and they tear get low income families and disabled
I was ppaced in foster care from 13 to 14 taken away feom my family. And as a result lived on my own and had to fend for myself. Before being of age to go on wefare at 16. My mom and grandmother were in residential schools. This has also resulted in alot of mental healh and addition issues in the family. Please get back to me so i can find out what information i need to proceed. This has severely effected me as a person i never got to graduate highschool and now has effected my adult life with no highschool eduction.
I reported this three years ago and they came back with some so fabricated and false and had no order but I’m willing to stand up too many children suffering and they tear get low income families and disabled
Yes,our daughter was appended due too lack of addiqute housing in our community only one birthday celebrated with us and difficulty of arranging visits and such.:(