With the support of a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) Explore Grant, I have embarked on a new research direction with my colleague, Dr. Tamara Myers. Together, we are exploring British Columbia’s 1973 Royal Commission on Family and Children’s Law (RCFCL).
In thirteen reports conveyed to the government between 1972 and 1975, the RCFCL recommended a detailed slate of groundbreaking social justice oriented changes intended to improve the systems in place for families and children, while acknowledging the unique status and needs of Indigenous people. In 1975, however, the NDP government was defeated by William Bennett’s Social Credit party and with this defeat, the RCFCL recommendations were summarily dismissed as partisan politics and shelved (Cruickshank, 1984).
With a few important exceptions, the RCFCL and its landmark recommendations have yet to receive sustained critical attention by historians interested in deepening our understanding of children, families, and public policy in BC (Armitage, 1998; Foster & Wharf, 2007; Strong-Boag, 2007, 2011). We argue that a critical historical revisitation of the RCFCL is timely now on at least two major counts: 1) in light of the ongoing erosion of social welfare protection for families and children in BC, Canada, and globally, and 2) in light of contemporary efforts in the province to decolonize child and family welfare systems, including the recent passing of Bill 38: Indigenous Self-Government in Child and Family Services Amendment Act which aims at “reducing barriers to Indigenous jurisdiction over Indigenous child and family services in British Columbia” (Indigenous Child and Family Services Directors, 2022).
In October, 2024, our first foray into this research will be presented at the Canadian History of Education Association (CHEA) conference in Ottawa.