Lawyers for the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation and other Inuit and Indigenous governments are making their arguments today before the Supreme Court to maintain their right to jurisdiction over family services, with the GNWT joining Quebec as an intervener in questioning the law.
The Quebec government has filed a constitutional challenge to the “An Act Respecting First Nations, Inuit and Métis Children, Youth and Families.”
Inuvialuit Regional Corporation (IRC) President Duane Ningaqsiq Smith said the IRC learned the GNWT, which had been regularly engaging in negotiations over how the new law would be implemented, joined Quebec as an intervener against the federal law in late September or early October. Alberta, British Columbia and Manitoba are also part of the constitutional challenge against the 2019 legislation.
“It’s unfortunate the GNWT decided to do an about-turn at the 11th hour when the premier initially comes out commending and supporting us,” he said, adding he hoped the GNWT would withdraw. “That’s not what you call dealing in good faith.”
Passed just over a year ago, the IRC’s first law — Inuvialuit Qitunrariit Inuuniarnikkun Maligaksat, or the “Inuvialuit Family Way of Living Law” — set the process in place for a year of negotiations with the federal government and GNWT to hammer out the details about implementation. The law then entered full force on Nov. 25, 2022 — exactly one year after it was passed.
The next step is for the federal government to begin funding the framework. Funding is based on the number of Inuvialuit children registered with the IRC.
Over the last year, the IRC has been working to be ready for the transition, including hiring staff and developing new child welfare programs.
However, if the Supreme Court of Canada doesn’t recognize the rights of Indigenous governments to manage the well-being of their children, which is currently being heard in the country’s top court, the legal foundation for the IRC’s law would be null and void.
Smith said he expected to hear a decision from the Supreme Court early next year.
“We’ve got very strong support from our communities in this initiative,” he said. “All of the Inuit organizations, including Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami (ITK), are also interveners (on our side) and are supportive of us as well.
“I hope there isn’t a problem and we can get it straightened out.”
This week, the IRC published an open letter advertisement in the Dec. 7 edition of Yellowknifer, Dec. 8 edition of the Inuvik Drum and the Globe and Mail chastising Premier Caroline Cochrane for joining the Quebec case. The public correspondence calls on Cochrane to withdraw the GNWT from intervener status.
The GNWT released a statement attributed to an unnamed communications officer, disputing the IRC’s version of events.
“The GNWT is not challenging the Inuvialuit Regional Corporation’s first law in the Supreme Court of Canada. The attorney general of the NWT is seeking clarity on how laws created under the federal act may impact legislative authority granted to our legislative assembly under the NWT Act,” the territorial government’s statement reads. “The attorney general of the NWT affirms the inherent right of self-government of Indigenous peoples, and their inherent jurisdiction in relation to child and family services pursuant to s.35 of the Constitution Act, 1982. The attorney general supports the right of Indigenous peoples to administer and enforce laws made pursuant to their inherent jurisdiction.
“The attorney general is seeking clarity on how laws created under the federal act may impact legislative authority granted to our legislative assembly under the NWT Act. The attorney general is focused on the structure of the federal law and the constitutional impact to the GNWT.”
The unattributed spokesperson for the GNWT insisted that the government is not seeking to strike down the law, noting the file is before the Supreme Court of Canada because the federal government appealed a ruling in the Quebec Court of Appeal, which struck down two provisions of the act and is seeking to have those re-implemented.
The GNWT spokesperson also said there will be no hearing between the GNWT and the IRC in Supreme Court.