850 search results for
Indigenous Peoples
Recommendation 113:
We applaud the work of Dr. Cindy Blackstock and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and call on the federal government to comply with the legally-binding orders of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to:
- Immediately and fully apply Jordan’s principle to all First Nations children living on and off reserve.
- Apply Jordan’s principle based on the need of the child and not limited to the normative standard of care.
- Ensure that administrative delays do not delay service provision and respond to most cases within 48 hours.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 120:
Using what you have learned and some of the resources suggested, become a strong ally. Being a strong ally involves more than just tolerance; it means actively working to break down barriers and to support others in every relationship and encounter in which you participate.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 32:
Universal public healthcare coverage to include supplements, prescriptions, counselling, dental, optical, mobility devices, adaptive equipment, and alternative treatments like acupuncture.
-
Category and theme:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 84:
Universal public healthcare coverage to include supplements, prescriptions, counselling, dental, optical, mobility devices, adaptive equipment, and alternative treatments like acupuncture.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 198:
Universal public healthcare coverage to include supplements, prescriptions, counselling, dental, optical, mobility devices, adaptive equipment, and alternative treatments like acupuncture.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 129:
Train and hire more Indigenous social workers and ensure that all social workers are culturally-competent, committed to decolonizing practices, have better communication skills, and are educated about and sensitive to the intergenerational trauma of family separation.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 10:
This review of lost and missing children highlights cross-jurisdictional research that speaks to the critical importance of a child’s sense of belonging in the child welfare system. These findings are not new for RCY and recommendations to address belonging have been made in the Representative’s report Skye’s Legacy: A focus on belonging, but progress has yet to be made to implement this recommendation. Therefore, the Representative reiterates the recommendation from RCY’s 2021 Skye’s Legacy:
“MCFD to conduct a systemic needs analysis of cultural and family support resources required to ensure that social workers are better supported to promote a sense of belonging and identity for First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous children and youth in care in relation to their families, culture and cultural community over time and at different stages in their lives and identity development. This review will inform the development of a longer-term resourcing and implementation plan. However, given the urgent need to address the significant over-involvement of the child welfare system in the lives of Indigenous children and families and poor outcomes for Indigenous children in the child welfare system, a substantive investment of new resources should be made immediately that can be considered a down payment on the resources identified for the longer term plan.”
Implementation of new resources was recommended by April 1, 2023, and is now overdue.
“MCFD to conduct a systemic needs analysis of cultural and family support resources required to ensure that social workers are better supported to promote a sense of belonging and identity for First Nations, Métis, Inuit and Urban Indigenous children and youth in care in relation to their families, culture and cultural community over time and at different stages in their lives and identity development. This review will inform the development of a longer-term resourcing and implementation plan. However, given the urgent need to address the significant over-involvement of the child welfare system in the lives of Indigenous children and families and poor outcomes for Indigenous children in the child welfare system, a substantive investment of new resources should be made immediately that can be considered a down payment on the resources identified for the longer term plan.”
Implementation of new resources was recommended by April 1, 2023, and is now overdue.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 1:
Despite the Canadian federal government ratifying the UN CRC, provinces are inconsistent in how and when legal counsel is appointed for children (CBA, 2020; Child Projection Project Committee, BCLI, 2020; Lovinsky, 2016). Even within a province, there are often inconsistencies across different areas of law (Child Protection Project Committee, BCLI, 2020; Lovinsky, 2016). The literature also notes that current independent provincial and territorial Child Advocate and Representative Offices vary widely across provinces and are vulnerable to funding and operational changes due to provincial restructuring and changes in political priorities (Bendo & Mitchell, 2017; CBA, 2020). For instance, Ontario’s Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth was recently closed, and its investigative functions were transferred to the Ontario Ombudsman, which does not carry the same specialized approach towards children’s rights as the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth (CBA, 2020).
These issues can be addressed through a national plan across provinces to coordinate efforts and maintain consistency (Byrne & Lundy, 2019; CBA, 2020; Collins, 2019). The CBA recommends that the federal government develop an independent National Commissioner for Children and Youth reporting to both Houses of Parliament, with a statutory mandate to protect and promote human rights amongst children and youth in Canada, including their rights to participation, and to liaise with provincial, territorial and Indigenous counterparts to coordinate efforts of mutual concern and overlapping jurisdiction. The CBA further suggests that the National Commissioner should serve to coordinate and ensure consistency amongst independent child advocate offices across provinces and territories. Finally, the CBA emphasizes the importance of incorporating and protecting the rights and interests of Indigenous children and youth when developing a national policy on children’s rights.
These issues can be addressed through a national plan across provinces to coordinate efforts and maintain consistency (Byrne & Lundy, 2019; CBA, 2020; Collins, 2019). The CBA recommends that the federal government develop an independent National Commissioner for Children and Youth reporting to both Houses of Parliament, with a statutory mandate to protect and promote human rights amongst children and youth in Canada, including their rights to participation, and to liaise with provincial, territorial and Indigenous counterparts to coordinate efforts of mutual concern and overlapping jurisdiction. The CBA further suggests that the National Commissioner should serve to coordinate and ensure consistency amongst independent child advocate offices across provinces and territories. Finally, the CBA emphasizes the importance of incorporating and protecting the rights and interests of Indigenous children and youth when developing a national policy on children’s rights.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 4:
These examples indicate a need for there to be an explicit legal obligation on the Ministry to actively consider placing the child with extended family members or returning the child to the parent. The federal standard, as set out in Bill C-92, requires that a reassessment of available alternative placements is “conducted on an ongoing basis.”
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation:
Recommendation 15:
There should be a drive for greater gender and racial equity in gallery exhibitions. For instance, a guiding principle might mandate that Black women artists booking a solo exhibition be paid the same rate as the highest paid white man artist. In fact, institutions should recognize that certain communities deserve to be paid more for their time and adopt an equity payscale. This can be considered another form of restitution for historic and ongoing marginalization of Indigenous and Black individuals and communities, which requires more labour to participate in the industry compared to non-Indigenous, white peers.
-
Category and theme:
Audience:
Groups affected:
Location of recommendation: