Feds urge human rights tribunal to dismiss concerns over Jordan’s Principle backlog [Video]

The federal government is urging the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to dismiss a leading First Nations child advocate’s concerns about a large backlog of unprocessed Jordan’s Principle requests.

In Ottawa this week, a federal lawyer tried to refute allegations that Canada is mismanaging the program that ensures First Nations kids have timely access to essential health products and services.

“This is not a government that is ignoring its obligation under these orders,” said Justice Canada lawyer Dayna Anderson.

“Canada has taken extraordinary steps at extraordinary costs to ensure that it’s meeting its obligations to First Nations children.”

The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society disagrees. The society sparked the hearing through a non-compliance motion alleging Canada’s repeated failure to process these applications in a timely way puts kids at risk.

“We know from Canada’s own estimates that there’s 40,000 requests at a minimum [and] up to 80,000 requests that …