Issue 1 2026 – Chiefs of Ontario Advocate magazine l 27 approvals and payments are structured. More specifically, she points to the process of approvals being tied to fixed fiscal-year limits, which has created challenges. “Before it was open-ended; they didn’t have a set end date,” she explains. “Now, they’re going by the fiscal year. So you’ve been approved for this, but come March 31st, that’s when it ends. You cannot carry your services or funding over.” She says this can create difficulties for families when services are subject to long waitlists, meaning approved supports may expire before they are fully accessed. “We need to start advocating a little bit more on that flexibility again,” she emphasizes. “We know with children’s services, there are waitlists for certain things, and sometimes that takes six months to a year or a couple of years. And so what’s the use [of ] this approval letter that has an end date and families can’t even utilize that?” Jurisdictional gaps also remain – particularly in education, where support for First Nations students is increasingly being treated as a provincial responsibility. At the same time, says Jones, provincial education authorities say that this is not their responsibility. “Especially with our children that are living off reserve or going to school off reserve, that’s a provincial responsibility, but now we’re getting into jurisdictional issues again,” she notes. Shifting responsibility between federal and provincial systems creates uncertainty for families – particularly when children require additional supports in school and each level of government assumes the other is responsible. Jones worries that children requiring additional supports in school could face barriers as governments determine responsibility for funding and delivery. “That’s a gap. That’s going to be a gap,” she asserts. “And I think our leadership needs to really keep a close eye on this when it comes to federal and provincial schooling, who’s paying the bill, who’s providing the supports.” Jordan’s Principle connects multiple systems, insists Jones: “It touches everything from social, health and education.” She says any future changes to the program must continue to reflect the realities faced by First Nations children both on and off reserve. While discussions have included the possibility of moving towards a program-based model, Jones argues that individual requests remain essential for many families living away from their communities. “Half of our First Nations children population lives off reserve,” she says. “Jordan’s Principle has to be broad enough that it reaches children both on and off reserve.” At the same time, current funding levels are not keeping pace with need. Jones also raises concerns over reports that families and communities have been directed to use prevention funding to address gaps in services. “Those prevention dollars are not going to last very long,” she says. “They’re going to get eaten up.” While she believes additional funding is needed, Jones says the focus must remain on ensuring children receive support when they need it. At the end of the day, she says, “it’s about our children. It’s not about the politics. It’s not about the legal orders that we can’t wait for because they’re saying yay or nay on all parties. Instead, we’ve approached this and said, how can we help?” Learn more at waterfirst.ngo Infrastructure and technology alone cannot solve the water crisis. In First Nations across Canada, safe water needs skilled people.
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