News Release   

October 7, 2019

First Nations Leadership Council Angered and Disappointed with Canada’s Recalcitrant Appeal of CHRT Ruling

(Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh)/Vancouver, B.C.)

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) of British Columbia expresses our profound frustration and deep concern with the decision on October 6, 2019 by the Government of Canada to seek judicial review of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision in First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada and Assembly of First Nations et al. v. Attorney General of Canada (for the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada), (2019 CHRT 39).  This appeal is of a critical ruling on compensating First Nations victims of discrimination in the child welfare system due to their suffering wilful and reckless discrimination as a result of an underfunded and poorly coordinated child welfare system. The appeal filed by Canada on October 6, 2019 seeks to quash the order of the Tribunal and is a step backward.

News Release           

September 16^th, 2019

First Nations Leadership Council recognizes the cessation of “Birth Alerts” as first step of many to end the traumatizing practice of hospital removals 

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories/Vancouver: 

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) applauds the Ministry of Children and Family Development for their decision and announcement that they will be ending the longstanding practice of “Birth Alerts,” but is clear that this is only the beginning of what is necessary to end the traumatizing practice of hospital removals for First Nations children and families.

News Release 

SEPTEMBER 9, 2019

FIRST NATIONS LEADERSHIP COUNCIL WELCOMES THE COMING INTO FORCE OF AN ACT RESPECTING FIRST NATIONS, INUIT AND MÉTIS CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories/Vancouver: 

The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is pleased with the announcement today that will see the full bringing into force of Bill C-92, An Act respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis children, youth and families on January 1^st, 2020. The coming into force of this Act recognizes the inherent jurisdiction over children and families that First Nations have never given up, and a long overdue change that First Nations in British Columbia have been waiting for to address the crisis that exists in child welfare for First Nations children and families.

News Release
September 6th, 2019

First Nations Leadership Council applauds landmark CHRT ruling for compensation for First Nations children and families who were unfairly discriminated against in child welfare system

Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilwətaʔɬ/sel̓ílwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Territories/Vancouver:

The First Nations Leadership Council applauds today’s ruling by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (CHRT) ordering compensation for First Nations children and youth removed from their homes by the child welfare system, and the parents and grandparents affected, including in cases where children were denied essential medical and other services. The First Nations Leadership Council views this as a major victory for human rights that must be respected by the Government of Canada, and will have a major impact in BC.

News Release 

For Immediate Release
June 20^th, 2019

FNLC DEMANDS FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE IN MCFD TREATMENT OF FIRST NATIONS CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Coast Salish Traditional Territory/Vancouver: The First Nations Leadership Council (FNLC) is disturbed by the findings in an Auditor General report released today, which found that the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD) has failed to protect the lives and the rights of First Nations children and youth in their care.

Coast Salish Territory (Vancouver, BC) - First Nations leadership and child-serving organizations gathered over the past two days, along with representatives of the Government of British Columbia and the Government of Canada - to discuss the current crisis in Indigenous child welfare in British Columbia.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver) Senior First Nations leadership in BC are thanking Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, BC’s Representative for Children and Youth, for her recent special report detailing serious concerns about the unbalanced review carried out by Mr. Bob Plecas for the Province of BC.  

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – January 26, 2016) Today the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal issued a landmark decision confirming that First Nations children in Canada have received inequitable child welfare funding, that this discrimination must cease, and that they must receive equitable child welfare funding going forward.  163,000 First Nations children are affected by the case and the child welfare funding shortfalls on reserves and in the Yukon are 22% to 38.5%.

Dear Premier Clark and Minister Cadieux:

Two reports were released this week that touch on the lives of Aboriginal children and youth. One was written by a Justice and will transform Canada's relationship with Aboriginal peoples. The other by a government insider, flippantly dismisses the value of reports written by Justices, and similarly dismisses Aboriginal peoples, taking as its incomprehensible premise that kids will die, and that this is just the collateral damage we should expect in a system that the Government has starved and ignored.

(Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – May 14, 2015) – The BC Assembly of First Nations, First Nations Summit and Union of BC Indian Chiefs fully support the findings of the Representative for Children and Youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond’s report Paige’s Story: Abuse, Indifference and a Young Life Discarded.