Ottawa asks court to overturn tribunal order on First Nations child welfare

By Canadian Press on September 22, 2025.

OTTAWA — Ottawa is asking the Federal Court to overturn a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order directing it to work with First Nations to reform the child welfare system, and for a new panel to be struck to determine next steps in a nearly two-decade-long legal battle.

The order, released in August, came nine years after the tribunal concluded that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding the on-reserve child welfare system, following a joint 2007 human rights complaint filed by the Assembly of First Nations and the Caring Society.

Progress on a child welfare agreement stalled when First Nations twice rejected a $47.8 billion deal last year, and Ottawa told the tribunal in May that the requests being put to it were “unreasonable.”

The tribunal said in August that Ottawa cannot “simply wait and let time go by” instead of renegotiating a deal with First Nations.

It said that if Ottawa refuses to resume negotiations, the Assembly of First Nations, the Caring Society and the newly formed National Children’s Chiefs’ Commission could present the tribunal with an evidence-based reform plan of their own.

In a statement posted to social media, Indigenous Services Minister Mandy Gull-Masty says Ottawa intends to reform the system in partnership with First Nations, and that the filing before the Federal Court will ensure reform is “flexible, sustainable, and inclusive of all partners.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 22, 2025.

Alessia Passafiume, The Canadian Press