:format(webp)/https://www.thestar.com/content/dam/thestar/news/canada/2023/04/11/three-first-nations-sign-child-welfare-agreement-with-ottawa-and-alberta/20230411160452-6435c95a2513d801964f1d58jpeg.jpg "Three First Nations sign child welfare agreement with Ottawa and Alberta")
TROUT LAKE, ALBERTA, CANADA – Three Alberta First Nations have signed an agreement with the federal and provincial governments to be responsible for their own child welfare systems.
The chiefs of Loon River First Nation, Lubicon First Nation and Peerless Trout First Nation gathered with representatives of the federal and provincial governments to celebrate the agreement.
It implements Awaśak Wiyasiwêwin, which is Cree for children’s law, and gives child and family services control and jurisdiction to the First Nations.
The agreement includes transferring nearly $150 million to the First Nations from the federal government.
It’s the second such agreement with Ottawa to be signed in Alberta, but the first one that also includes the provincial government.
A bilateral agreement was signed between the federal government at Louis Bull Tribe in Maskwacis, south of Edmonton, in February.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 11, 2023
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