Jordan’s Principle office closes after six months

A recently opened Jordan’s Principle office in Brandon was closed in the spring following cutbacks by the federal government.

The office, Dakota Urban Jordan’s Principle, opened last October at 1209 Richmond Ave. and closed its doors in April, Canupawakpa Dakota Nation Chief Raymond Brown told the Sun.

The closure was for financial reasons, he said.

“They cut our funding right down,” said Brown, whose First Nation shared the office in partnership with Birdtail Sioux Dakota Nation.

“So basically, our hands are tied. The chiefs, the leaders — our hands are tied.”

The Jordan’s Principle program is funded by Ottawa. Brown said that support had been reduced this year.

“Some of that money, that was a part of the rent agreement … so now we don’t have the money to pay for the rent.”

The cutbacks come as Ottawa seeks to course-correct Jordan’s Principle after identifying potential misuse in the program across Canada, federal officials have said.

While the issue is national, its waves are now being felt locally.

The office closure in Brandon will especially impact people in the colder months, Brown said, as Jordan’s Principle provided proper clothing for residents during Manitoba’s harsh winter.

“This is where Jordan’s Principle helps us — with boots and snowsuits and winter jackets, gloves, sweaters,” Brown said. “This coming winter is going to be harder on these families that were getting help.”

The federal government announced changes to Jordan’s Principle in a Feb. 10 statement through then Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu. The changes came at a time when questions where flaring up about whether some communities were taking advantage of the program.

“Jordan’s Principle is supposed to be used when necessary,” Hajdu said at the time. “(It shouldn’t) be used for requests that are outside of what it is designed for.”

The statement came two weeks after a ruling from the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, which oversaw a complaint from the Government of Canada. The ruling acknowledged troubling numbers — that requests in Jordan’s Principle funding labelled “urgent” grew by more than 900 per cent between 2021-22 and 2022-23. It also found that modelling photography head shots, a zipline kit, gaming consoles, a lawn mower, laptops, museum tickets, trampolines and printers were submitted to the government as urgent requests.

Started in 2007, Jordan’s Principle is a commitment from Canada to ensure First Nation children receive necessary support. It memorializes Jordan River Anderson, a two-year-old disabled child who died after a dispute between governments delayed care prior to his death.

The House of Commons passed Jordan’s Principle as a commitment that “First Nations children would get the products, services and supports they need, when they need them.”

The Sun was not able to reach Birdtail Chief Tréchelle Bunn for comment.

» cmcdowell@brandonsun.com