VANCOUVER – The Federal Court of Canada has upheld a class action lawsuit against the federal government on behalf of indigenous children who have been removed from their families and placed in the care of non-natives. In a ruling released Monday, Federal Court Judge Michael Phelan ruled that the course would cover the period from January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2019, a period that the Vancouver law firm representing the plaintiffs calls “Millennium” Scoop ». The court ruling states that the victims include Indians and non-Indians, young Inuit and Métis and their families who did not live in shelters. The class demands various damages, restoration and recovery of specific expenses on behalf of the affected children and families. He claims that the actions of the federal government violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and showed systemic negligence, although the allegations have not been proven in court. Vancouver attorney Angela Bespflug, speaking on behalf of the plaintiffs, said the certification “marks a major change in legislation” because the federal government now has to explain why it treats children in reserve differently from those living in reserve. “It is fundamentally wrong for Canada to agree to compensate children in detention while leaving children out of reserve in the cold,” Bespflug said in a statement issued by law firm Murphy Battista. The federal government reached an agreement in principle last year to pay $ 40 billion to young people and their families affected by discriminatory funding practices related to the child welfare system. Current data show that the vast majority of indigenous children arrested and placed in state care are indigenous children out of reserve, according to Murphy Batista. Dr. Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, says that compared to the height of the home school period, three times as many children are in state care today. “Canada has apologized for housing schools, but has pursued the same policies under a different name,” Blackstock said in a statement. “We call on Canada to stop fighting indigenous children in court and to speed up and finally bring about the changes needed to rectify this deeply damaged system,” he said. This Canadian Press report was first published on June 20, 2022. The Canadian Press