With the election over, this is merely a continuation of previous threads discussing Canadian politics.
Trudeau is making international news after his government filed a challenge to a decision that First Nations children were discriminated against and were awarded $40,000 each. The decision would cost billions. The government than said it would pause the challenge and negotiate.
If the original award was fair, I do not see why this would lower the value. The courts did not seem to think it was unfair - and many Canadians would not either. What is the government thinking?
That it could negotiate lower amounts of compensation or structure different payment terms.
Sure, but that depends on having good legal grounds for a challenge and a sufficient likelihood of terms changing. I presume the Canadian Bar Association, Canadian Medical Association and many other groups would have not asked the government not to appeal without reason. I cannot say I understand the law or issues well enough to say why an agreement to a lower amount is likely. Which is why I ask those smarter than I.
To summarize the issues for those less familiar with Canadian politics (these are my impressions and may be mistaken):
It seems that the government since 2006 made a decision to underfund some Indigenous programs, forcing sone families to send 40,000 children into foster care.
A court awarded damages at $40,000 per child affected, but also said payment could be made to parents and grandparents. I believe the appeal says the tribune did not have jurisdiction to include parents and grandparents.
The $40,000 includes both the deficit in the funding programs as well as additional penalties due to the harsh effects of the decision.
The government had a deadline to appeal. They filed it just before the deadline but then said they hoped to negotiate. Many had asked them not to appeal given the sensitivity of the issue.
I am wondering if the government wants to roll future liabilities for all residential school issues into one package; or if they just want to be seen as providing taxpayer value given the serious errors made?
I do not know legal things about how numbers were determined, etc.