Federal Judge Approves $23 Billion Settlement for First Nation Families from Ottawa

A Federal Court judge has verbally approved a landmark $23-billion settlement that will see Ottawa compensate more than 300,000 First Nations children and their families over chronic underfunding of on-reserve child-welfare services. The settlement agreement follows a 2019 Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling that ordered Ottawa to pay the maximum human rights penalty for discrimination: $40,000 for each affected First Nations child and family member. The government fought the order but eventually negotiated an agreement after it faced two class-action lawsuits. The Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society first launched a human-rights complaint in 2007.