Woman recognized in fight for First Nations children

Cindy Blackstock is hopeful that one more recognition by an international body about the plight of First Nations children in Canada will make the federal government listen.

“I think if they were to contextualize it within the other signals they have been getting from the international community regarding this case, they really should have a sober second thought,” said Blackstock, who is an associate professor at the University of Alberta.

In December, Blackstock was recognized as one of 16 activist women by the Nobel Women’s Initiative. Many of the women selected are active in human rights movements in war torn and civil unrest countries such as Egypt, the Sudan, and Haiti. Having her name associated with such strong women has been humbling, says Blackstock.

“But at the same time I think what it reminds all of us is although on the whole Canada is a first world country, First Nations children live in third world conditions and they’re also subject to the Indian Act, the only race-based piece of legislation in the western industrialized world. So the situation of First Nations children is really much more in parallel with the situation of children we see in developing countries than it is often with other Canadian children.”

On the international front, Canada was slammed by the United States and Norway during the universal period review process at the human rights council last year. Both countries directed Canada to take steps to correct the shortfalls that face children who live on reserve.

The issue is now being heard by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal after years of legal posturing on the part of the federal government. Blackstock’s organization First Nations Caring Society pushed the issue of equitable funding for children on reserves to the forefront in 2007, backed by a number of organizations including the Assembly of First Nations.
Her recent recognition, says Blackstock, goes to everyone involved in the fight and who have stayed the course.

“It’s been a very difficult movement. The government, of course, has far more resources than we do and they have used those resources to try and thwart the hearings at every stage. But thankfully they have not been successful,” she said.

Melisa Brittain, research administrator with the First Nations Children’s Action Research and Education Service with the U of A’s Faculty of Extension, says Blackstock shouldn’t sell her efforts short and is a worthy recipient of the Nobel Women’s Initiative.
“Cindy’s drive to ensure that children living on-reserve receive culturally-based and equitable care is unrelenting. Quite simply, she dedicates her life to this work,” said Brittain.

In 2012, Blackstock started the First Nations research and education centre at the U of A with a focus on First Nations children and child equity, which includes education, child welfare, and other government-funded services.

Brittain, who has been with the centre from the beginning, says researchers often find it difficult to relate issues to the public in a meaningful way.

“Cindy, however, has dedicated herself to doing just this: making her academic work reach far beyond academic journals and university classrooms to create a large impact on Canadians,” said Brittain.