AFN regional chiefs accuse national chief of stoking division on child welfare reform
Six Assembly of First Nations regional chiefs accused their national leader of stoking division on the issue of child-welfare reform, suggesting she may be too cozy with the Canadian government, a letter obtained by CBC Indigenous shows.
The blowback comes after National Chief Cindy Woodhouse Nepinak wrote to Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, asking how the society plans to improve on a $47.8-billion federal offer to overhaul the system, which the chiefs rejected last fall.
On Jan. 14, Woodhouse Nepinak wrote that “the AFN remains quite concerned” after the Liberal government decided to seek a carveout deal with chiefs in Ontario, while refusing to renew negotiations nationally.
In response, more than half of the assembly’s executive committee accused Woodhouse Nepinak of letting Canada off the hook.
“It is Canada — not the Caring Society — that must be held accountable,” the regional chiefs wrote on Jan. 15.
“Shifting this responsibility and stoking division undermines the collective efforts of the Chiefs-in-Assembly and regional leadership.”
The letter is signed by regional chiefs Joanna Bernard (New Brunswick), Ghislain Picard (Quebec-Labrador), Bobby Cameron (Saskatchewan), George Mackenzie (N.W.T.), Terry Teegee (B.C.) and Kluane Adamek (Yukon).
They went on to comment on the optics around the letter, noting that Canada’s legal counsel, Paul Vickery, also wrote to the Caring Society — digging in on Ottawa’s position — on the same day as Woodhouse Nepinak.
“Your comments and timing of this letter coinciding with the Justice Canada correspondence calls into question the required independence of the National Chief from the Liberal Party and the Government of Canada, writ large,” the regional chiefs wrote.
Woodhouse Nepinak responded on Jan. 31 in a three-page letter, also obtained by CBC Indigenous, rejecting the concerns.
“With respect to your references to a letter of Jan. 14, 2025, from Justice Canada, I can confirm that I was not in receipt of any such letter,” she wrote.
“Any inferences as to my independence are therefore unfounded, inappropriate and malicious.”
Woodhouse Nepinak’s ties to the Liberal Party are well documented.
She is a former Manitoba president of the Liberal Party’s Indigenous Peoples Commission; she worked on Justin Trudeau’s 2015 election campaign; and Elections Canada recorded 149 political donations under her name — all to the Liberal Party of Canada.
CBC News has contacted her office for comment but did not receive a response before this story published.
Child welfare reform deal at risk
The $47.8-billion offer aimed to partially settle an 18-year-old complaint at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, where AFN and the Caring Society are co-complainants.
Together, they proved that Canada was racially discriminating against First Nations kids on reserves and in the Yukon since 1991 by chronically underfunding child and family services in their communities.
In rejecting the deal, chiefs voted to establish a new National Children’s Chiefs Commission (NCCC) to lead renewed talks, while urging Canada to return to the table with an updated mandate.
So far, Canada has refused, and Vickery’s letter to the Caring Society flatly rejected demands that Canada expand the program to children living off reserve and maintain the tribunal’s jurisdiction indefinitely.
In their letter, the regional chiefs accused the AFN of inaction and failing to support the new commission.
“The regions have been working diligently to advance the resolutions while assisting the NCCC in meeting their mandate,” the regional chiefs wrote.
“In fact, AFN supporting the NCCC would alleviate the reliance on the regions filling a critical gap left by the AFN’s inaction on this matter.”
Woodhouse Nepinak replied by agreeing entirely that the commission should lead the work in collaboration with the AFN, if “negotiations of a long-term reform agreement become available,” that is.
“However colleagues, we find ourselves faced with confirmation by Canada that they will not engage with the AFN, or presumably any other entity including the NCCC, on a national level agreement,” she wrote.
“The prime minister has also announced his resignation, which may likely result [in] a delay in cabinet’s consideration of a revised mandate. Finally, other federal parties have publicly expressed their desire to topple the government, meaning that an election could be forthcoming as soon as next spring.”
Woodhouse Nepinak called it “entirely fair” for the AFN to question Blackstock in light of an assembly resolution mandating the Caring Society to “lead any process to achieve non-discrimination” on child welfare and Jordan’s Principle.
The regional chiefs, however, stressed that the chiefs’ rejection of the deal wasn’t made lightly, and was a call for a comprehensive, equitable and inclusive process they all must support.
“It is critical that the AFN leadership respects this mandate and works alongside the NCCC to secure a meaningful pathway forward for long-term reform,” they wrote.
“Together, we can ensure that systemic discrimination is truly eradicated, and the dignity and rights of all First Nations children and families are upheld.”
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