The Trudeau government announced Monday it’s planning to settle a class-action lawsuit filed on behalf of First Nations children affected by the on-reserve child welfare system, while its lawyers launched arguments in a courtroom aimed at torpedoing a human rights tribunal order that it pay compensation to many of the same affected children.

Justice Minister David Lametti and Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller issued a joint statement that the government would work with plaintiffs’ counsel with the goal of moving forward with certification of a class action filed in March. It seeks $6 billion in compensation for First Nations children impacted by the on-reserve child welfare system and who were denied health services. 

“The Government of Canada is committed to seeking a comprehensive settlement on compensation that will ensure long-term benefits for individuals and families and enable community healing,” the statement said. 

“The class action model is designed to give individuals the chance to have their interests represented, to address the interests of all impacted individuals and to allow parties to arrive at an appropriate resolution of past harms.”

Under Jordan’s Principle, the needs of a First Nations child requiring a government service take precedence over jurisdictional issues over who should pay for it.

David Sterns, a partner with Toronto-based Sotos LLP, one of three law firms bringing forward the lawsuit, said he was notified Monday morning of the federal government’s intention to proceed with certification. 

The three law firms brought the action on behalf of Xavier Mushroom and Jeremy Meawasige — the representative plaintiffs in the case.   

“This is a positive development. Agreement to certification means we have the forum to pursue a global resolution that will be subject to court approval,” said Sterns. 

“We view it as a positive. So far, these are just words. They need to match their words with action.”

Sterns said any settlement would eventually involve the parties to the human rights tribunal case, which include the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations.

Fighting tribunal order

The two ministers issued the statement about the class-action suit as federal government lawyer Robert Frater told Federal Court Justice Paul Favel that the Sept. 6 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order that Ottawa provide $40,000 in compensation to each First Nations child impacted by the child-welfare system or denied health services, was an overreach.

The compensation order, which also includes payments of at least $20,000 to some parents and grandparents, followed a 2016 ruling that found Ottawa discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding child welfare services and by not following Jordan’s Principle.

“The errors of this [tribunal compensation] judgment run wide and deep,” said Frater, in his arguments. 

“Canada is committed to remedying the injustices of the past, but it has to be done in a fair and equitable way.”

Frater argued that the case before the tribunal, originally filed in 2007, was about systemic discrimination, which required a systemic fix that the federal government had already begun. He also said the compensation order wandered outside of the tribunal’s legislative parameters into the purview of class-action law. 

He said the compensation order was fundamentally unfair because it treated all cases the same, regardless of individual circumstance.

“There ought to be some sort of recognition of individual experience,” Frater said.

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