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October 4th, 2019

Trudeau’s Shameful Record of Failing Indigenous Children

In 2015, Justin Trudeau made big promises to make life better for Indigenous children. Instead, he fought continuously in court to avoid funding Indigenous child welfare.

Since being ordered in 2016 by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to fix the discriminatory underfunding of Indigenous child services, Trudeau’s government has been hit with four non-compliance orders and 48 children in Ontario have died.

But last year, he found $14 billion to give away to big corporations.

This is just the latest in a long list of failures to make things right for Indigenous children:

  • After the government received an urgent request for suicide prevention funding from Wapekeka First Nation, they said it was an “awkward time” to fund it. After several deaths by suicide in the community, the Tribunal connected it directly to the government’s refusal to comply.
  • They spent $110,000 to deny dental coverage for a child who needed a $6,000 procedure – only to lose in court.
  • Their bills to reform the child welfare system and fund Indigenous language education were blasted by experts for not including any funding to improve services.

Instead of backing up his words with action, Justin Trudeau fought Indigenous children in court while handing billions in giveaways to corporations and the wealthiest Canadians.