OTTAWA - Ottawa is asking the Federal Court to overturn a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal order directing it to work with First Nations to reform the child welfare system, and for a new panel to be struck to decide on next steps in a nearly two-decade-long legal battle.

In its application, the federal government called the tribunal's actions "unreasonable," accused it of failing to consider evidence and submissions and said it "breached natural justice and the duty of fairness."

The tribunal order, released in August, came nine years after the tribunal concluded that the federal government had discriminated against First Nations children by underfunding the on-reserve child welfare system, following a joint 2007 human rights complaint filed by the Assembly of First Nations and the Caring

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