Utoo Radio with Other News Sources - January 8, 2025 - Canada has informed the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) that Ottawa has no mandate to negotiate nationally after chiefs rejected a $47.8-billion offer to reform the on-reserve child welfare system long term.

Instead, the federal government is continuing negotiations with First Nations leaders in Ontario to strike a region-specific deal based on the original proposal's terms.

Indigenous Services Canada announced these talks with the Chiefs of Ontario and Nishnawbe Aski Nation political organizations.

The letter raises questions about whether the Liberal government will honor AFN resolutions from last October and December.

The agreement was designed to fulfill a binding order from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, which the tribunal ruled in 2016 was chronically underfunded and racially discriminatory.