Ottawa is staring down a court-ordered deadline to submit a new plan to reform the on-reserve child welfare system, as a group of First Nations leaders and children’s advocates prepare a competing proposal.

The federal government has until Dec. 22 to make its submission to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal after the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) rejected the previous Liberal government’s $47.8-billion long-term reform offer last year.

"Our approach to child welfare will be First Nations-led and community-led, and it will be supported by significant, significant additional funding," Prime Minister Mark Carney said during a speech at the AFN special chiefs assembly last Tuesday in Ottawa.

The government’s plan will be compared against one from a First Nations-led group, known as the

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