Elizabeth May responds to landmark ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

OTTAWA — “Today’s ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal reiterates what anybody who has been paying attention has known for years: Ottawa has been discriminating against First Nations children on reserve. From woefully inadequate and outdated funding models to a system that incentivized removing children from their families, the Tribunal found that that there is ‘sufficient evidence to establish a prima facie case of discrimination.’

I congratulate Cindy Blackstock for her heroic work pushing this forward against a Conservative government that did nothing but obstruct, spending $5.3 million to deny that it was discriminating against First Nations children, even retaliating against Ms. Blackstock personally.

I am hopeful that the new government will swiftly follow the order to ‘take measures to immediately implement the full meaning and scope of Jordan’s principle.’

First Nations children continue to suffer from generations of wilful and reckless discrimination by successive governments. I am committed to working with the government and First Nations to end this awful discrimination and move towards reconciliation.”

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