Background Content

Call to Action # 4 : Child Welfare (1-5)

Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Response to Passage of Bill C-92

June 24, 2019

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) – is disappointed to see this legislation passed without the inclusion of key amendments that would have responded to the unique circumstances and First Nation-specific rights of First Nations children. The MOU, signed in 2017, provided funding to the AMC to engage with First Nations in Manitoba to develop their own legislation in relation to First Nations children in care that was specific to the rights, interests and circumstances of First Nations children in Manitoba. AMC First Nations, led by the AMC Women’s Council and the AMC First Nations Family Advocate Office, developed the Bringing Our Children Home Act. AMC First Nations were shocked to hear of the Assembly of First Nations support for pan-Indigenous federal legislation that did not provide guaranteed funding or sufficient protections for our children from apprehensions and abuse in foster care.