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Should Governments be Above the Law? The Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on First Nations Child Welfare

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2015

Cindy Blackstock
Cindy Blackstock*
Affiliation:
First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario; University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta
*
address for correspondence: Cindy Blackstock, PhD, Executive Director, First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada. E-mail: cblackst@fncaringsociety.com
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Abstract

Many child welfare statutes protect children when caregivers jeopardise their safety and best interests, but what if the risk is sourced in government child welfare policy or practice? Instead of including provisions to hold governments accountable for placing children in harm's way, governments and their agents are largely protected against any systemic maltreatment claims made against them. This paper describes a precedent-setting case before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal attempting to hold the Canadian federal government accountable for its systemic failure to ensure that First Nations children are protected from maltreatment linked to inequitable federal child welfare funding on reserves. The case is a rare example using an independent judicial mechanism with the authority to make binding orders against the government and enveloping the proceedings in a public education and engagement movement. Implications of the case for child rights in Canada and abroad are discussed.

Keywords

First NationsIndigenousChildrenHuman RightsDiscriminationStructural Risk
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 40 , Special Issue 2: CONSILIENCE IN ACTION - LESSONS FROM AN INTERNATIONAL CHILDHOOD TRAUMA CONFERENCE , June 2015 , pp. 95 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2015 

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