Do you agree that Ottawa is appealing the court’s decision on the welfare of native children? – Vote

Photo: The Canadian Press / Nathan Denette

Children play in water-filled ditches in the Northern Ontario First Nations Reservation in Attawapiskat, Ont. in 2016. The Liberal government says it will appeal a decision that compensates First Nations children removed from their homes.

The federal government is appealing a decision ordering Ottawa to compensate First Nations children removed from their homes.

The government filed the appeal notice late Friday before the federal appeals court closed.

In 2016, the Canadian Court of Human Rights found that Ottawa discriminated against First Nations children by deliberately underfunding child and family services for those living in reserve.

The court ruled that each First Nations child, along with their parents or grandparents who were divorced due to this chronic underfunding, was entitled to receive $ 40,000 each in federal compensation, which was the maximum amount it could award.

It has been estimated that about 54,000 children and their families could qualify, meaning Ottawa may be on track to pay more than $ 2 billion.

The court also ruled that the criteria should be extended so that more First Nations children could be entitled to Jordan’s principle, a rule designed to secure jurisdictional disputes over who pays for what does not prevent children from accessing public services.

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