202. Discrimination Against Indigenous Child and Family Services (with David Taylor)

In this episode, host Kelley Humber chats with David Taylor, who has spent the last 8 years as counsel of record in the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society complaint at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal about the underfunding of Indigenous child welfare in Canada. Kelley and David discuss the discrimination experienced by Indigenous families who access child and family services on-reserve and in Canada’s implementation of Jordan’s Principle. The pair also discuss some of the more procedural aspects of the case, such as the systemic remedies being asked for and how Human Rights Tribunals function differently than the courts.

David also shares about his journey into public law litigation, his current role at Conway Baxter Wilson LLP, and advice he would give to law students or new lawyers making early career decisions.

The Federal Court decision from 29 September 2021 discussed in this episode can be found here. A more recent Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling from 11 February 2021, which lays out much of the case history and progress on implementing the remedies ordered can be found here.