Ottawa will open the department of Indigenous Services up for a review to identify ways it discriminates against First Nations children
Ottawa will open the department of Indigenous Services up for a review to identify ways it discriminates against First Nations children.
The work will happen as part of a $40-billion agreement-in-principle reached last December between the federal Liberal government and groups including the Assembly of First Nations, Chiefs of Ontario and lawyers for two related class-action lawsuits.
The arrangement will see Ottawa pay $20 billion in compensation to First Nations children who were harmed by chronic underfunding of child and family services on-reserve.
Another $20 billion has been earmarked to reform the system over the next five years, with some measures set to take effect as of Friday.
A public notice on the federal government's procurement website says it has chosen the University of Ottawa to conduct the internal review, which will cost $750,000.
A department spokeswoman says this is the first time such a review will be done of the federal department since its creation in 2017 when Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada was split into two departments: Indigenous Services Canada and Crown-Indigenous Relations.