Child Welfare Law, Best Interests of the Child Ideology, and First Nations

Liberalism has structured legal discourse such that racism is most often unintended and rarely explicit. To understand how and why law has an oppressive and discriminatory impact on First Nations and other racialized groups in Canadian society, one must look at some of its more subtle processes and, in particular, its ideological form. The goal of this article is to provide insight into the origins and operation of best interests of the child ideology and to illustrate how it structures and constrains judicial decision making in the context of First Nations child welfare. Best interests ideology serves to portray the apprehension and placement of First Nations children away from their families and communities as natural, necessary, and legitimate, rather than coercive and destructive. This is accomplished, in part, through legal processes that appear to be universal and neutral, and to protect children and serve their best interests. As well, the relevance and importance of a First Nations child maintaining her First Nations identity and culture is minimized. After illustrating the difficulty involved in transforming ideology through law reform, the article concludes by suggesting that First Nations must be empowered to develop their own child welfare services outside the framework of existing provincial legislative schemes and in line with more general goals of self-government

Child Welfare Law, Best Interests of the Child Ideology, and First Nations

Liberalism has structured legal discourse such that racism is most often unintended and rarely explicit. To understand how and why law has an oppressive and discriminatory impact on First Nations and other racialized groups in Canadian society, one must look at some of its more subtle processes and, in particular, its ideological form. The goal of this article is to provide insight into the origins and operation of best interests of the child ideology and to illustrate how it structures and constrains judicial decision making in the context of First Nations child welfare. Best interests ideology serves to portray the apprehension and placement of First Nations children away from their families and communities as natural, necessary, and legitimate, rather than coercive and destructive. This is accomplished, in part, through legal processes that appear to be universal and neutral, and to protect children and serve their best interests. As well, the relevance and importance of a First Nations child maintaining her First Nations identity and culture is minimized. After illustrating the difficulty involved in transforming ideology through law reform, the article concludes by suggesting that First Nations must be empowered to develop their own child welfare services outside the framework of existing provincial legislative schemes and in line with more general goals of self-government

And If Not Now, When? : Feminism and Anti-Semitism Beyond Clara Brett Martin

In their response to Constance Backhouse, Clara Brett Martin: Canadian Heroine or Not? , and Lita-Rose Betcherman, Clara Brett Martin\u27s Anti- Semitism , the authors suggest ways to deepen the analysis of anti-semitism put forward in the articles by focusing less on matters of individual prejudice and discrimination, and, in particular, that of Clara Brett Martin, and more on the systemic dimensions of anti-semitism. They argue that interrogating the history and present manifestations of anti-semitism and investigating its more structural and ideological aspects will take us further in understanding the processes which reinforce and reproduce anti-semitism. The authors also consider how the silencing aspect of anti-semitism has limited the extent to which anti-semitism has been acknowledged and addressed within the feminist community. They conclude that we must address this silencing and undertake the difficult yet urgent task of confronting anti-semitism within ourselves, the women\u27s movement, and the broader Canadian society