Child welfare reform deal presents a fork in the road to reconciliation: Ken Coates in the Globe and Mail – MLI
August 27, 2024
The Indigenous policy revolution in Canada is near the take-off point. The rather unpoetic Agreement on Long-Term Reform on the First Nations Child and Family Services Program has the potential to transform governance as it currently operates.
This settlement—worth $47.8-billion over 10 years—is the first major achievement of National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak’s term as head of the Assembly of First Nations (AFN). It is also potentially one of the most consequential developments in Canadian public policy in 50 years.
For decades, First Nations, Métis, and Inuit representatives—driven by community-level and Indigenous women’s associations who drew attention to incompetence and cultural injustice—challenged the federal government repeatedly on the failure of family policy. However, their claims were ignored.
