Jordan's Principle

Jordan's Principle is a child first and needs-based principle used in Canada to ensure that First Nations children living on and off reserve have equitable access to all government funded services. According to the First Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada, the organization that hosts the Jordan’s Principle campaign:

Jordan’s Principle aims to make sure First Nations children can access all public services in a way that is reflective of their distinct cultural needs, takes full account of the historical disadvantage linked to colonization, and without experiencing any service denials, delays or disruptions related to their First Nations status. The government of first contact pays for the service and resolves jurisdictional/payment disputes later.

Under Jordan’s Principle, where a jurisdictional dispute arises between two government parties (provincial/territorial or federal) or between two departments or ministries of the same government, regarding payment for services for a First Nations child, the government or ministry/department of first contact must pay for the services without delay or disruption. The paying government party can then refer the matter to jurisdictional dispute mechanisms.

Jordan's principle is reflective of the non-discrimination provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and Canadian domestic law that does not allow differential treatment on the basis of race or ethnic origin. Private Members Motion 296 in support of Jordan's Principle was passed unanimously in the Canadian House of Commons on December 12, 2007.

In June 2015, the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission made Jordan’s Principle the third of its 94 “Calls to Action” for governments in Canada:

3. We call upon all levels of government to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.

Jordan's Principle was established in response to the death of five-year-old Jordan River Anderson, a child from Norway House Cree Nation who suffered from Carey Fineman Ziter Syndrome, a rare muscular disorder that required years of medical treatment in a Winnipeg hospital. After spending the first two years of his life in a hospital, doctors cleared Jordan to live in a family home near the hospital in Winnipeg. However, the federal and provincial governments could not resolve who was financially responsible for the necessary home care. For over two years, the federal and provincial governments continued to argue while Jordan remained in the hospital. In 2005, at the age of five, Jordan died in the hospital; he never had the opportunity to live in a family home.

...
Wikipedia