Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in 2021, the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation passed its first law, Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat, meaning the Inuvialuit Family Way of Life law. Maligaksat draws down jurisdiction for child welfare for Inuvialuit children and youth under federal Bill C-92, An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Metis Children, Youth and Families.
Maligaksat establishes IRC's inherent right over child and family services to:
- Ensure cultural continuity of Inuvialuit children and youth;
- Enhance supports available to Inuvialuit families to thrive;
- Improve information sharing with the GNWT; and,
- Exercise Inuvialuit jurisdiction in an Inuvialuit way.
At first, the GNWT publicly supported IRC's Maligaksat. In November 2021, the Premier's public news release congratulated IRC on a "big step forward." But in 2022, to everyone's surprise, the GNWT reversed its support for Maligaksat. The GNWT intervened in a federal court case to challenge the very law that enabled Indigenous law to prevail over those of the provinces and territories when it came to the care of Indigenous children. The GNWT argues that the federal law that enables Maligaksat, "compromises the jurisdictional balance between Indigenous governments and the Government of the Northwest Territories."
Federal Minister Marc Miller called the NWT's position "wildly disappointing" and affirmed that "a basic trapping of nationhood and identity is the ability to have control and custody over your own children."
The GNWT is putting its own interests to retain power and control above the interests of Inuvialuit children and youth. The GNWT's intervention is dangerous and it harms Inuvialuit children and youth.
In 2018, the Auditor General released a damning report condemning the GNWT's child and family services. The GNWT is failing Indigenous children and youth in care who are currently overrepresented, at 98 percent, of those in care. This injustice is tied to Canada's colonial legacy of removing, assimilating, and destroying Indigenous children and youth. Mr. Speaker, I seek unanimous consent to conclude my statement. Thank you.
---Unanimous consent granted
Thank you, Mr. Speaker, and my colleagues. As I said, this injustice is tied to Canada's colonial legacy of removing, assimilating, and destroying Indigenous children and youth. I share this truth with the utmost care and respect for Indigenous families and communities that have had to reckon and are still healing from this.
Indigenous governments face significant barriers as it relates to child welfare. The GNWT intervention contradicts the spirit of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and damages relationships with IRC and, potentially, other Indigenous governments.
Mr. Speaker, at this point, I am calling on the GNWT to:
- Immediately remove itself as an intervener from the federal court case even if it is only symbolically;
- To repair its relationship with the IRC and other Indigenous governments with respect to children and family service; and
- Support Indigenous governments' readiness to draw down jurisdiction for the welfare of their children and youth.
Until Indigenous governments have full control of their children, this will continue to be a colonial government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.