TORONTO, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The Canadian government said on Friday it would appeal a federal court decision upholding a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal ruling for it to individually compensate indigenous children and their caregivers harmed by a discriminatory child welfare system. The decision means Canada will continue a 14-year legal battle. The government filed the notice late on Friday afternoon, ahead of a deadline. The tribunal"s ruling is expected to cost the federal government billions of dollars. The notice says the government "acknowledges the finding of systemic discrimination and does not oppose the general principle that compensation to First Nations individuals." However, awarding compensation to individuals as the tribunal did was "inconsistent with the nature of the complaint, the evidence, past jurisprudence and the Canadian Human Rights Act," the notice added. It is the latest in a series of cases brought by indigenous people in Canada, who have been subject to government discrimination for more than a century. In cases running the gamut from human rights to fiduciary duty and treaty rights, legal victories are emboldening indigenous communities, setting new standards for indigenous-government relations and sending governments a message that promises are not enough, lawyers say. The Human Rights Order also expands the definition of a principle under which indigenous children receive expeditious care regardless of jurisdiction, which means a lot more children are eligible for expeditious treatment that might otherwise be delayed by jurisdictional disagreements. read more The notice of appeal comes just hours after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reiterated his government"s commitment to compensate indigenous children even as he refused to say whether his government would keep fighting the order to compensate indigenous children. "Ministers are actively working on this, even this morning in Ottawa," he told reporters in the Netherlands during his tour of Europe. Recent wins for indigenous communities include a Supreme Court order to recalculate compensation for century-old actions based not on the bare minimum a government might have done but on what Lac Seul First Nation lost in the process.