Systemic Discrimination in Indigenous Child Welfare Funding

Last week, the Assembly of First Nations voted to reject a $47.8-billion child welfare deal with the federal government. The agreement would have funded long-term reforms to child welfare for First Nations children on reserve. Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak, the AFN National Chief, urged the chiefs to pass the deal so that it would be in place before the next federal election.

Dr. Cindy Blackstock is a member of the Gitxsan First Nation and the Executive Director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society. She’s on the show to talk about how this deal was more than a decade in the making and why she and others say it fell short.

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