Latest from Brett Forester
Canada spent $14.5M fighting First Nations child advocate in court
Federal governments both Conservative and Liberal spent at least $14.5 million fighting prominent First Nations child advocate Cindy Blackstock in court over the last 18 years. Blackstock says the figure is "really disappointing," while an NDP MP calls it "appalling."
Residential school survivors' group on verge of shutdown amid lack of funding from Canada
A residential school survivors' group says it will have to close its doors at the end of the month unless it receives a federal funding decision. Laura Arndt, lead at the Survivors' Secretariat in southern Ontario, is accusing Ottawa of breaking promises. “They lied" to survivors, she said.
First Nations leaders blast feds for attributing deficit overrun to Indigenous legal claims
First Nations leaders are blasting the federal government and calling for an apology after Ottawa attributed its latest deficit overrun to Indigenous legal claims against the Crown. The statement "harkened back to the colonial mindset" to villainize and scapegoat First Nations, one leader says.
Canada can't say when 140,000 backlogged cases will be cleared at First Nations children's program
Indigenous Services Canada doesn’t know when 140,000 backlogged requests will be cleared at its Jordan’s Principle program for First Nations kids in need — calling a legal order requiring swift action on the logjam “challenging” and "not operationally feasible."
Canada blocks First Nations leaders in B.C. from Jordan's Principle consultations
Last week, as the prime minister was touting past promises to include First Nations in conversations about their future, government lawyers were blocking First Nations leaders in B.C. from participating in consultations to address a large backlog at the Jordan’s Principle program.
AFN accused of second guessing chiefs with outside legal opinion on child welfare resolutions
The Assembly of First Nations is being accused of second guessing its own chiefs through an outside legal review of the decision to reject a multibillion-dollar offer to reform the child welfare system in October, according to two second opinions obtained by CBC.
Assembly of First Nations takes Trudeau to task over racism, rights and reconciliation
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was pressed on everything from racism in policing, broken promises from 2015 and a lack of consultation on key pieces of proposed legislation at the Assembly of First Nations annual winter meeting in Ottawa Thursday.
First Nations leaders demand national inquiry into 'epidemic' of deaths by police
First Nations leaders are urging Canada to establish a national inquiry into systemic racism in policing to address what they’re calling an “inter-related epidemic” of violence and death, following 10 deaths between August and November.
Coroner's probe finds 220 additional deaths at Ontario residential schools
An Ontario coroner’s investigation has identified 220 additional deaths linked to Indian residential schools in the province — deaths that were previously unknown to the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation, which has documented 436 deaths in the province.
Special interlocutor still waiting for Canada's response to report on disappeared residential school children
Kimberly Murray says she's received no word from Canada a month after she hand-delivered her two-volume final report in Gatineau, Que., finding that children who died and were buried at Indian residential schools were victims of a crime against humanity.