After years of feeling like a lone voice in the wilderness, we are now one more voice in the choir. Along with the Assembly of First Nations, The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, the Auditor General of Canada, we can now add Parliament’s own Standing Committee on Public Accounts who reported that, “Continuing to use a flawed funding formula means that First Nations child and family services agencies are often underfunded, and First Nations children and their families do not receive the services that they need. “
There is a simple solution. Take action now. There is ample information in regards to funding First Nations agencies in a more equitable way. An interim funding model could easily be implemented today with bridging and need reconciliation mechanisms for any final bureaucratic decision. Pick one. We need to stop victimizing First Nations Children and families because of the government’s inability to act.
