More victims compensated and an increased amount of 3 billion: Canada and indigenous groups have signed an agreement to pay more than 23 billion Canadian dollars (15.6 billion euros) in compensation to Indigenous children and their families discriminated against by the child welfare system.
“This final settlement marks a long-awaited turning point for thousands of families,” said Cindy Woodhouse, regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations in Manitoba (central part of the country), in a press release.
Announced as "the largest compensation agreement in Canadian history" in January 2022, a first version was rejected by a Canadian court, finding in particular that the agreement excluded certain children. It is finally the families of more than 300,000 children who will be compensated.
The revised agreement would put an end to a legal battle that has been going on for more than fifteen years. It was approved by the Assembly of First Nations and must now be validated by justice.
The settlement will apply to those who fell victim to the system between April 1, 1991 and March 31, 2022.
"Historic Sums" for "Historic Wrongs"
These are "historic sums, even from a global perspective, but we are also talking about historic wrongs up to the 1990s," Crown-Indigenous Relations Minister Marc Miller said at a press conference.
Despite representing less than 8% of children under 14 in Canada, Indigenous children made up more than half of those placed in the child welfare system, according to a 2016 census.
Indigenous populations in Canada experience higher levels of poverty and lower life expectancies than other Canadians, and are more often victims of violent crime, substance abuse and incarceration.
