The head of the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate says the organization was left with no choice but to pursue legal action after months of inaction from Indigenous Services Canada.

The case centres on funding for the Yukon’s rural nutrition program which was put in place in 2019 to provide two meals a day to approximately 900 Indigenous children ages zero to 18 across 14 Yukon communities.

Executive director Melanie Bennett says the organization filed an appeal seven months ago but hasn’t received a response, despite the department’s guidelines stating it must respond within 90 business days.

Bennett said the government funded the program for five years, before cutting funding in August 2025. 

The non-profit’s recently filed application requests the court issue a “writ of mandamus” which would force Indigenous Services Canada to respond to its appeal regarding the termination of its Jordan’s Principle funding for the rural nutrition program. 

Parents choosing between feeding themselves or their children

YFNED’s director of First Nations initiatives, Courtney Wheelton, said the cancellation of the program has left many families in a desperate situation. 

“Looking at the current economy with the increased [cost] of everything, with food prices, with gas prices, we hear stories from families being stuck in this situation and having to choose, you know, whether they feed themselves or they feed their children,” said Wheelton. 

The federal court filing gives the example of Liard First Nation, the largest community previously served by the directorate, where approximately 62 per cent of First Nations’ households with children are classified as “food insecure”.

Wheelton said she’s heard from schools that attendance has dropped. 

“The kids have been very vocal saying we miss breakfast, we miss lunch, like we’re not coming [in the] mornings if the breakfast is not there,” said Wheelton. 

“It’s really impacting their everyday lives and their ability to grow and develop and be active participants in schools,” she continued. 

In a statement to CBC News, a spokesperson for Indigenous Services Canada said, “Jordan’s Principle is not intended to replace existing federal/provincial or territorial universal programs, such as education or income assistance.”

The statement also said the National School Food Program will help to “address food insecurity” calling it a “generational investment in the future of our children.”

Bennett said that program doesn’t come close to meeting the need.

“We were $15 per day per child.” said Bennett. “What the national food money equates to is $1.44 per day per child.”

YFNED is also in charge of rolling out the new National School Lunch Program in the Yukon.

Bennett noted that in places like Dawson City, $1.44 doesn’t cover the cost of a granola bar. 

She also points out the two programs have different goals, with Ottawa’s lunch program being for all children, while Jordan’s Principle programs are particularly meant to uplift Indigenous children. The national food program also has a more narrow scope focusing only on school age children, while the Yukon’s previous program provided food to daycares, and directly to Indigenous families in the form of food hampers. 

“We [used to do] a winter hamper, which was to address our children over that winter break, which was direly missed this year and lots of families were heavily impacted by that,” said Bennett. 

Program about ‘substantive equity’ for Indigenous children

Bennett took particular aim at the government’s rationale provided in their letter to deny funding, which claimed the rural nutrition program amounted to “income assistance.”

“It was, quite frankly, really insulting to see that,” Bennett said.

She said it demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of Jordan’s Principle and what it aims to accomplish. 

According to Indigenous Services Canada, Jordan’s Principle was born out of a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal Decision that the Government of Canada’s approach to First Nations children and families living on reserve and in Yukon is discriminatory. 

In February 2025, the federal government introduced a new operational bulletin for Jordan’s Principle funding including a new requirement for children to provide government status numbers and ID to access services. 

Bennett said the government’s new bulletin could potentially leave Indigenous children marginalized and without the “substantive equality” the principle is meant to ensure.

“Human Rights Tribunal clearly stated that it should not be government numbers and government issued license or registration that determines whether or not a child is able to access services,” Bennett said.