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Miller and Lametti said that Canada “agrees it must fairly and equitably compensate First Nations children who have been negatively impacted by child and family policies. What we must do is seek an approach that will provide a fair and equitable resolution.”

“To that end, we will work with plaintiff’s counsel with the goal of moving forward with certification of the Xavier Moushoom and Jeremy Measwasige v. The Attorney General of Canada class action,” they said.

Federal lawyers began negotiating with the plaintiffs’ lawyers earlier this fall.

Measwasige was added as a new plaintiff when the original statement of claim was amended to increase the lawsuit from $3 billion to $6 billion. The 25-year-old from Nova Scotia was born with cerebral palsy, spinal curvature and autism. He battled the federal government to get adequate funding for essential services.

The class action case was filed last March. The human rights tribunal order came in September, requiring the government to pay $40,000 for every First Nations child who was inappropriately taken away from their parents after 2006, as well as similar compensation to parents or grandparents who had their kids inappropriately removed, and for children who were denied essential services.

The Liberals announced during the election they intended to appeal the ruling.

Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG

The Assembly of First Nations estimated that 54,000 children and their parents could be eligible for but which families would be covered had to be worked out in negotiation between the Assembly of First Nations and the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society, which brought the original human rights complaint forward in 2007.