Spirit Bear Podcast

This episode features a conversation between long-time friends and colleagues, Dr. Cindy Blackstock and Gary Mavis, RSW. Gary has spent his entire career supporting children and youth in care, as well as providing caregivers, both Indigenous and non, with the resources and training they need to provide culturally relevant, trauma-informed care to First Nations youth. Tune in to hear more about wha...

We're thrilled to share this mini episode of the Ask an Expert Podcast, where Dr. Cindy Blackstock finds herself in the interviewee chair to discuss some important updates following the recent decision by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to endorse the revised Final Settlement Agreement on compensation put forward by the parties. Tune in for more information about how compensation will be delive...

On this episode of Spirit Bear's Ask an Expert series, we are joined once more by the wonderful team of Dr. Barbara Fallon, Dr. Ashley Vandermorris, and Genevieve Sansone to talk about birth alerts. Tune in to find out more about what birth alerts are, how they impact First Nations communities, and how eliminating the practice - when done alongside other methods of keeping kids safe and healthy -...

On this episode of Spirit Bear's Ask an Expert Podcast, we are joined by Dr. Helaina Gaspard of the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Democracy, who discusses some of the exciting opportunities that lie ahead for First Nations and agencies in the long-term reform of First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS). Ultimately, Dr. Gaspard shows how a reformed, bottom-up approach to funding can help...

On this episode of Spirit Bear's Ask an Expert podcast, Dr. Blackstock is joined by Dr. Barbara Fallon, Dr. Ashley Vandermorris, and Genevieve Sansone of the Fraser Mustard Institute for Human Development Policy Bench to discuss parenting capacity assessments and their usefulness in supporting First Nations, Inuit, and Metis kids and families.   Tune into this episode to learn about what parenting...

On this episode of the Ask an Expert series, Dr. Cindy Blackstock and Sarah Clarke of Clarke Child & Family Law discuss the human rights compensation available for certain children and families who have been impacted by Canada's discrimination. On September 6, 2019, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ordered Canada to pay the maximum compensation allowable under the Canadian Human Rights Act to ch...

On this episode of the Ask an Expert series, Dr. Cindy Blackstock and Sarah Clarke of Clarke Child & Family Law discuss the ongoing case for equity for First Nations children and families at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal). As per the Tribunal orders, Canada must stop the discrimination against First Nations children and families and prevent it from reoccurring. But what will that in...

Season 2 of the Spirit Bear Podcast is coming soon!    The "Ask an Expert" series, hosted by Dr. Cindy Blackstock, features interviews with leaders in the field of child wellbeing and aims to dig deeper into evidence-based solutions for supporting First Nations young people and their families by dispelling myths and examining what actually works. 

The students have a conversation with Dr. Veldon Coburn about the education opportunities available to First Nations on reserve, the linkages between historical and contemporary inequities in education, and how this contributes to educational outcomes for First Nations students. The students also consider the importance of balanced and truthful historical accounts being captured in school curricul...

The hosts sit down with Dr. Mary Ann Corbiere to discuss Indigenous cultural and language resurgence, including some impacts of the Official Languages Act. Dr. Corbiere invites the students to consider how language repression figures into colonial assimilationist policy, and in the First Nations context, the complex relationship between language, culture and identity. Dr. Corbiere is a member of W...

The students invite Charlie Angus , MP for Timmins-James Bay, Ontario, to discuss the history and significance of Jordan's Principle. The Motion in support of Jordan's Principle was brought to the House of Commons in 2007 by Mr. Angus' colleague, Jean Crowder (now retired).   This episode has been edited for length. For detailed information on Jordan’s Principle, please visit https://jordansprinci...

uOttawa students hear from Dr. Naiomi Metallic, Mi'gmaw professor of law at Dalhousie University, as she discusses the social, legal, and political matters of child and family and social services in First Nations communities on reserve, and the role of the law in reconciliation.  Dr. Metallic comes from the Listuguj Mi’gmaw First Nation on the Gaspé Coast of Quebec, and currently holds the Chancel...

Students interview Dr. Pamela Palmater about the Agreements in Principle signed on December 31, 2022, to 1) reform the First Nations Child and Family Services (FNCFS) Program and ensure proper implementation of Jordan’s Principle and 2) compensate those harmed by Canada’s discrimination.  Jordan’s Principle ensures that First Nations children can access the supports they need, when they need them....