Changes are being made to provincial legislation in BC in order to remove barriers for Indigenous Peoples exercising jurisdiction over child and family services, which means BC would be the first province in Canada to expressly recognize this inherent right within legislation.
These amendments, which are the biggest ones made in the past quarter century, are being made to respect the rights of Indigenous communities to provide their own child and family services and to keep Indigenous children safely connected to their cultures and their communities.
The changes will also look to correct the issue of a lot of Indigenous children being in provincial care.
These changes were developed in corroboration Indigenous rightsholders, Modern Treaty Nations, Indigenous Governing Bodies, Métis Nation BC as well as Indigenous partners and they’ve been touted as an important step to help the government meet their commitments in the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and help them achieve the goals in the Declaration Act Action Plan.
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