By Anna Mehler Paperny
TORONTO (Reuters) – Canada announced on Tuesday it is entering into a pair of non-binding agreements totalling C$40 billion ($31.5 billion) to compensate First Nations children harmed by a discriminatory child welfare system and to reform that system.
The agreements in principle set a framework for “final” settlement agreements, the government said in a statement. They include C$20 billion for at least 55,000 First Nations children who were removed from their families, who did not get services they needed or whose access to services was delayed. Another C$20 billion is for long-term reform over five years.
The government last month said it was setting https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/canada-setting-aside-c40-billion-compensate-indigenous-children-harm-2021-12-13 aside C$40 billion to compensate the impacted children and reform the system. The agreements come almost 15 years after an advocacy group brought forward a human rights complaint.
($1 = 1.2696 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Anna Mehler Paperny; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
