Thank you, Mr. Speaker. So this settlement stemmed from a complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal by the Assembly of First Nations and an additional society, I can't recall the name right now. This process, that was in 2007, and it was finally in 2023 that the agreement was settled after the human rights tribunal ordered Canada to pay a certain amount, which they appealed. It was then confirmed.
From my understanding, because we are not a party to this lawsuit, it wasn't our -- we had no option to opt into this. But the program, the First Nations Child and Family Services Program, applied in all provinces and the Yukon except Ontario. In Ontario, there was a cost sharing agreement with the province for the provision of child and family services on First Nations reserves, and there was also a federal agreement with Alberta and BC to provide child and family services to certain First Nation reserves. And a similar agreement was in place in the Yukon as well. And so for whatever reason, it's those provinces and territories who fit that criteria that the claim was made on behalf of.
So I've dealt with this as a constituent issue myself because the thought that this is not fair to people in the Northwest Territories who have been through the system is one that is shared by many in the territory. And I think I agree with the Member that we should have been involved in this. We should have been part of this, as Nunavut as well. But the fact is that the tribunal -- the complaint to the tribunal did not include us. So it was a decision of those making the complaint to not include the Northwest Territories. Thank you.