Funding allocations for First Nations child and family services in the 2016 federal budget fall far short of what's needed to implement the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal decision and remedy inequities. Parties to the child welfare human rights case will submit replies to recommended immediate relief remedies by March 31, 2016. For further details are available in this information sheet. 

In 2007, the Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations filed a human rights complaint against the federal government alleging that inequitable funding for child welfare on reserves amounts to discrimination on the basis of racial origin. The complaint was eventually presented to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. Hearings began in February 2013 and came to a close in October 2014. On Tuesday, January 26, 2016, nine years after the complaint was filed, the Tribunal will finally release its ruling. 

In this story for the Canadian Press, reporter Kristy Kirkup talks to Caring Society executive director Cindy Blackstock about her experience of the case, and what was kept her going all these years. 

Cindy Blackstock writes in the Globe and Mail about why an inquiry into murdered and missing Indigenous women ought to include an examination of how structural inequities in child welfare put First Nations girls & women at greater risk for disadvantage and violence. Read the article here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/a-mmiw-inquiry-must-examine-the-child-welfare-system/article27549551/

Shannen Koostachin remains an important role model for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children and young people who continue to carry her dream for safe and comfy schools for all First Nations children in Canada. On November 27, 2015, Charlie Angus talked about his new book about Shannen and indigenous education on CBC's The Current. Listen here. 

Read the Caring Society's guest post on the Canadian Paediatric Society blog.

On August 16, the Caring Society, Truth and Reconciliation Commissioner Marie Wilson, members of the Bryce family and other friends and supporters gathered at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa to celebrate the legacy of Dr. Peter H. Bryce. 

The Ottawa Citizen previewed the event in this article.

And in this video, APTN National News speaks with Dr. Peter Bryce's grandson, Andy Bryce and Caring Society Executive Director Dr. Cindy Blackstock.  

On June 10, 2015, chiefs from across Quebec and Labrador signed a Declaration on the Rights of First Nations Children. The declaration proclaims First Nations children's rights to grow up safely, be healthy, get a good education, learn their languages and be proud of their cultures.

Click here to access information sheets on the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal on First Nations child welfare by the Canadian Child Welfare Research Portal. 

Globe & Mail video: 11 facts about the gap between First Nations and the rest of Canada *note: the 2014 UN Human Development Index ranks Canada 8th (not 6th, as video says)