UPDATE 1-Canada discriminated against Aboriginal children - tribunal

(Adds comment from decision, Aboriginal group)
OTTAWA, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Canada discriminated against
aboriginal children by underfunding welfare services on
reserves, a human rights tribunal ruled on Tuesday, in a
decision that could affect the way Ottawa funds education,
health and housing for indigenous Canadians.
The ruling comes nearly nine years after aboriginal groups
opened a human rights complaint against Ottawa over its funding
formula for child welfare on reserves, and adds to a litany of
problems in the relationship between the nation's 1.4 million
aboriginals and the federal government.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who took office in November,
has pledged to repair relations with Canada's indigenous people,
who make up 5 percent of the population but represent about half
of the more than 30,000 Canadian children aged 14 and under
living in foster care.
Aboriginals also have higher levels of poverty and a lower
life expectancy than other Canadians, and are more often victims
of violent crime, addiction and incarceration.
The crisis on indigenous reserves was highlighted last week
by a school shooting in the remote northern Saskatchewan
community of La Loche. A 17-year-old boy has been charged in the
deaths of four people.
The First Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the
Assembly of First Nations, an umbrella group for Canada's
largest indigenous group, charged that Ottawa was underfunding
child welfare services on reserves compared with what is spent
on non-native children or aboriginals living off reserve.
In its decision, the panel said Ottawa needed to make
changes not only to its funding, but to the child welfare
program itself "to respect human rights principles and sound
social work practice."
"The Panel acknowledges the suffering of those First Nations
children and families who are or have been denied an equitable
opportunity to remain together or to be reunited in a timely
manner," the decision said.
The government is expected to comment on the ruling later in
the morning.
Cindy Blackstock, executive director of the Family Caring
Society, called the decision a "great day for First Nations
children and all Canadians who believe in justice and fairness."
Previously, a review commissioned by Ottawa found a child
welfare funding shortfall on reserves of about 22 percent.
Ottawa is responsible for funding child welfare services for
aboriginal children on reserves, including costs related to care
of children removed from their parent's custody. Individual
provinces fund child welfare services for non-native children
and native children who do not live on reserves, creating a
two-tiered funding system.