Grand Chief says child welfare settlement will help with healing

A compensation agreement in principle with the federal government will help First Nations members directly impacted by discrimination in the child welfare system move on with their lives in a positive way.

It will also help First Nations communities exercise jurisdiction in child welfare.

That’s according to Iroquois and Allied Indians Grand Chief Joel Abram.

Abram, from Oneida of the Thames, helped to negotiate the historic $40 billion child welfare compensation agreement.

“Money doesn’t really change the past and the things that happened to them,” said Abram. “So another important part of this is having some supports for mental health or counseling, or other supports that they may need. They may want to reintegrate with their First Nation, or their family to reconnect. So we’re going to have to have those kind of resources for them.”

The agreement would set aside $20 billion for those directly impacted by systemic discrimination in the child welfare system from April 1991 to March of 2022.

About $20 billion would be used to reform the child and family services program for First Nations children.

Abram said he believes the discovery of children’s graves at former residential schools was a factor in reaching the settlement.

“That’s another very important component, public sentiment, because finding those graves made the average person think ‘how would I feel if those were my children that were taken away?’ They never came home, they never found out what happened to them, and they have to wait 50-60 years to find out if that was them.”

The deadline to finalize the agreement is March 31, 2022.