In response to concerns raised by the Council of Leaders who visited Ottawa earlier this month, Indigenous Services Canada says they are examining new ways to “build in more flexibility” into the Jordan’s Principle program that respond to the distinct obstacles faced by communities of the far North.
“We recognize the unique challenges faced by northern and remote communities. That’s why we’re exploring ways to build in more flexibility around the requirements,” Jacinthe Goulet of Indigenous Services Canada told True North FM.
As Goulet outlined, the Jordan’s Principle was created to ensure that First Nations children do not experience gaps or delays in accessing essential government services due to their identity as Indigenous children.
Goulet said that Indigenous Services Canada sees these critical services for Indigenous children and their families as a “shared responsibility” between territorial and federal governments.
“As part of implementing Jordan’s Principle, the federal government recognizes that supporting First Nations children is a shared responsibility between provincial/territorial and federal governments.”
However, members of the Council of Leaders who spoke in Ottawa on Oct. 7 expressed concerns about how changes to the program are impacting the lived realities that their communities are facing.
Leaders including Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Danny Gaudet, Chair of Council of Leaders for the Délı̨nę Got’ınę Government, President Garry Bailey, for the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, Chief Ernest Betsina for the Yellowknives Dene First Nation,, Chairperson Charles McNeely for the Sahtu Secretariat Inc., Premier R.J. Simpson for the GNWT, and Deputy Premier Caroline Wawzonek, for the GNWT expressed concerns about the changes to the Jordan’s Principal program first announced in February.
Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Gaudet, Chair of Council of Leaders for the Délı̨nę Got’ınę Government, expressed concerns on behalf of his community.
“As a community leader and a community government, we’re a small community, and we try to support all our members. So as a nation we’re applying for funds to help out our members and some of it is actually putting teachers into public school, that’s run by the government of the Northwest Territories.”
Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Gaudet explained that the changes to the Jordan’s Principle program are having major affects on children and families in his community.
“I think in my community that’s 12 teachers that we have to lay off. That’s not including now to qualify to apply, you actually got to get diagnosed by a specialist. Well, we have no specialist within 1,000 miles near us, so how do we get our people diagnosed without spending a bunch of money to get them diagnosed? Just to get them to qualify. Like it’s, it’s gone really to the extreme,” he explained.
In response to this concern, representatives with Indigenous Services Canada said they are looking at ways to adapt the application process to make it more accessible for children and families living in remote and Northern communities.
“We recognize the unique challenges faced by northern and remote communities. That’s why we’re exploring ways to build in more flexibility around the requirements for letters of support from licensed professionals, to make sure our processes are adaptable to local realities,” said Goulet.
In the meantime, the community continues to confront the loss of access to critical resources and services after not being given a warning of the changes in advance, said Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Gaudet.
“Speak to us about that before you just simply cut what you’re doing with the Jordan Principle. It’s affected a lot of families.”
He said that the community had been using Jordan’s Principle funding to help children and families with food provisions, specialized accessibility equipment for their home and mobility devices like wheelchairs.
“If you need a special bed or you need a wheelchair, you need something. We literally work with our members to do all of that. Literally, now they’re telling us, ‘well, the individuals themselves have to apply. ‘ – Well, what if they don’t have internet, what if they don’t have a computer, what if they don’t have the resources to actually fill out an application, or the understanding to to apply for the special stuff they actually need. So it’s causing a lot of problems,” said Ɂek’wahtı̨dǝ́ Gaudet, who added the community had met with Indigenous Services Canada twice over the summer but had not been able to resolve the issues.
President Bailey, for the Northwest Territory Métis Nation, said for his community the question goes back to the Daniels decision.
In 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that Métis and non-Status Indigenous persons have equal rights in Canada and the government has a responsibility to meaningfully advance the work of Reconciliation.
“Métis have not been eligible for Jordan’s Principal education dollars or disability, anything like that, we’ve lobbying for years since it came about so that we can now access that. The Daniels case, is supposed to treat us equitable to the First Nations and Inuit, they haven’t even developed a policy yet in 10 years,” said President Bailey.
He said access to resources and services under Jordan’s Principle has long been an obstacle for children and families from his community.
While representatives with Indigenous Services Canada said that eligibility First Nations children “on and off reserve” continue to be eligible, Premier Simpson said that the differences in how the federal government deals with the territories of the North versus the provinces of the south has impacts on access to the program funding.
“A major concern that I have in the Northwest Territories and that’s how the federal government creates programs and policies for the NWT. We are treated most often like a province but we’re not a province. We don’t have backspace to raise revenues to supplement these clawbacks of funding. We have dozens of communities in the Northwest Territories that are 80 to 100 per cent Indigenous.”
The premier said that because the territory operates differently from provinces, this consideration needs to be addressed when looking at resources available to Indigenous families and their children.
