A certification hearing is underway at the Supreme Court of British Columbia on a class action brought on behalf of all off-reserve Indigenous children in British Columbia who were removed from their homes and taken into care since 1992.
Lawyers representing them say many were taken away from their culture, families and many were abused.
“Our position is against Canada and against the province is that the system was flawed and broken,” said lawyer Angela Bespflug who said the lawsuit could affect 10,000 children. “It prioritized removal over prevention services that would have kept children with their families”.
One of the original plaintiffs in the class action is Jake Phillips Lopez Smith of Haida Gwaii.
According to the statement of claim filed in June 2022, Smith was taken from his home and placed in care when he was three or four years old.
It said he was subjected to racism, isolation and neglect. As a result of the trauma, Smith said he struggled with substance abuse and mental and emotional health challenges.
The statement of claim goes on to say that through Smith’s hard work and the community support, he found after leaving the child welfare system, he’s been able to turn his life around.
However, his childhood trauma continues to adversely affect his life.
The claim was also filed on behalf of parents and grandparents who were caregivers when the children were apprehended.
“Family Class members suffered loss of guidance, care and companionship, family bonds, language, culture, community ties and resultant psychological trauma,” according to the claim.
“More specifically, these class members suffered the loss of the ability to parent; they were deprived of their ability to pass their culture and identity on to their children; and suffered psychological injury, including depression, anxiety, emotional dysfunction, suicidal ideation, and loss of self-worth.”
Bespflug said the governments of Canada and B.C. have known about the harms done to off-reserve First Nations, Metis and Inuit children for “decades and decades.”
“The defendants… have failed to remedy the situation. Because of that, our class members, our plaintiffs, have suffered harm that can’t be remedied by any compensation,” Bespflug said.
“But our goal is to a; have the defendants acknowledge their wrongful behaviour, b; get compensation for these plaintiffs and other class members and c; try to get the defendants to change their way.”
A decision in the B.C. class action is expected within the next three months.
The claim parallels those brought in Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Quebec.
In an overview of the province’s position contained in its statement of defence, B.C. denied a broad swath of the allegations in the action.
Meanwhile, Canada recently entered into an historic settlement of a national class action for on-reserve First Nations children. A special Chiefs Assembly to discuss details and give final approval of the $47.8 billion deal is set for Oct. 16 to 18 in Calgary. Off-reserve children were not included in the settlement.
