Indigenous Youth in Ontario
This case makes three types of claims.
First, it alleges that the governments of Canada and Ontario did not adequately fund Indigenous child services in Ontario. Thus, Indigenous children were denied prompt access to essential services.
Second, it alleges that the funding structure, legislation, policies, and culture of child services system in Ontario prioritized removing Indigenous children from their homes over providing preventive services to Indigenous families to assist them to care for their children at home.
Third, it alleges that, once Indigenous children were removed, they were placed with non-Indigenous parents, far from their communities, or in physically unsafe homes.
This case seeks to represent (1) all off-reserve Indigenous (First Nations, Métis, and Inuit) children in Ontario who were removed from their homes while under the age of 18, since 1992; (2) all off-reserve Indigenous children in Ontario who were denied prompt access to an essential service, since 1992; and (3) the caregiving parents and grandparents of those children.
We are bringing this claim and parallel claims in other provinces with a consortium of firms across the country, including Cochrane Saxberg (Manitoba), Murphy Battista (BC), Miller Titerle (BC), Gowling (BC), and Kugler Kandestin (Quebec). The court will decide at a later date if the case will proceed as a class action.
- November 30, 2022: Statement of Claim was issued.
- Statement of Claim issued November 30, 2022
