N.B. acts to help First Nations children

The New Brunswick government would like to have an agreement on the so-called Jordan's Principle with the federal government by September, Social Development Minister Kelly Lamrock said on Friday.

Lamrock said in an interview on Friday he wants to begin negotiations immediately with federal Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl to implement Jordan's Principle.

"Jordan's Principle is where the two levels of government say, 'Let's agree to a dispute-resolution mechanism that we both trust so that the child gets the care and the service they need right away and then we just haggle over the cheque later in a way that we think is credible,'" Lamrock said.

"I've informed minister Strahl that we accept the timeline to get this resolved in the next few months and I think we can be very aggressive."

The principle is named after Jordan River Anderson who was born in 1999 with several disabilities. The federal and provincial governments spent four years arguing over who should pay for Jordan's medical expenses. Jordan died in 2005.

Bernard Richard, the province's child and youth advocate, released a report earlier this week that sounded the alarm for children living on First Nations communities and made 93 recommendations.

Among those reforms, Richard's report called for the federal and provincial governments to hammer out an agreement on Jordan's Principle by Sept. 1.

In his report, Richard said he wants a system"recognizing that all children should have timely access to necessary and publicly available services" and include a "reliable dispute resolution mechanism."

Following recommendations

Lamrock said the provincial government will immediately adopt five recommendations that are exclusively under his department's jurisdiction.

But the social development minister said if only those five recommendations are followed and the other 88 are ignored, there will not be the significant reform that Richard's report called for.

That's why Lamrock said he will work with First Nations chiefs and the federal government to implement the remaining recommendations.

"Bernard's very clear here, he's saying you've got to find a way to kick your way through the constitution and become relevant here," Lamrock said.

In his report, Richard said he found a system in crisis with a confusing web of jurisdictions between the various levels of government.

Ottawa pays for child welfare services, while First Nations band-run agencies provide them, and the province oversees compliance with laws and policies.

Lamrock said he's willing to take on reforms to this system if the First Nations and the federal government agree.

No meddling

Lamrock said the government wants to lend support to First Nations and actually do something without meddling in their affairs.

"Kids would be hurt by that because simply put, nobody on the ground would trust an outside agency to begin the process of intervening in First Nations families and history probably backs up that fear quite well," Lamrock said.

Richard's report found aboriginal youth are six times more likely to end up in foster care and four to five times more likely to be charged in court. They also have higher rates of obesity and illiteracy.

He called for a sweeping reform of the system and made 93 recommendations, ranging from increasing funding, to the streamlining of services, and promoting native language and culture.

When the report was released, Elsipogtog Chief Jesse Simon said previous studies have outlined similar problems, with little or no action.

Lamrock said he's eager to work with Simon to consolidate and improve the system.

"He's agreed to assemble the 15 chiefs. We're going too," Lamrock said.

"We can certainly help in terms of attracting and training more First Nations professionals in the area of child development."