While minister trumpets Ottawa's commitment to First Nation education, department faces school supplies protest
The day before Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan stepped behind a microphone to trumpet his government’s commitment to education, one of his department’s Ontario regional offices faced a protest from Six Nations residents over the lack of supplies for the community’s schools.
YOUTUBE VIDEO
APTN National News
OTTAWA–The day before Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan stepped behind a microphone to trumpet his government’s commitment to education, one of his department’s Ontario regional offices faced a protest from Six Nations residents over the lack of supplies for the community’s schools.
Chanting, “stop the lies, bring the supplies,” the protestors entered Aboriginal Affairs’ Brantford, Ont., regional office Monday and demanded to know why the department had failed to fulfill the bulk of a $22,000, five month-old order for school supplies.
On Tuesday, Duncan held a press conference at the Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Que., across the Ottawa River from Parliament Hill, to announce Ottawa was taking First Nations education seriously. Duncan said the government would finally be allocating money announced in the last budget for First Nations education.
Those words rang hollow in Six Nations, however, where frustration is mounting over the delay in the delivery of school supplies so deep into the first semester of school.
Six Nations band Coun. Carl Hill said he’d heard that some teachers were forced to use their own credit cards and one school borrowed $1,500 from their parent association to pay for desperately needed supplies.
“This is totally unacceptable, I don’t think that is right,” said Hill, in a phone interview with APTN National News. “They had to photo-copy pages out of the math book and out of the spelling book just to get started on stuff.”
According to a video posted on YouTube, the protestors were asked to leave the building by Bob Maguire, a regional director of funding services for the department.
“These orders were sent in May, why were they not processed?” said one of the protestors after they exited the building.
Maguire said that “education of course matter,” but admitted that some of the supplies were delayed.
“I am aware the some school supplies are in place, some other school supplies are on route,” he said, according to the YouTube video, posted by Tom Keefer and Zach Ruiter.
Hill said the department has again promised the supplies are in the mail and should arrive by Thursday evening. If they don’t, a larger contingent will again march to the department’s regional office, he said.
Aboriginal Affairs did not respond to a request for comment.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Duncan said $175 million would be used to build three schools and renovate five others. He also said $100 million would be used to support early literacy programming, services and partnerships with provincial school boards.
“Today’s announcement makes clear that we are serious not only about continuing to invest in First Nations education, but that we are taking real action to put in place the structures necessary to strengthen the on-reserve education system,” said Duncan.
He also said new First Nations education legislation would be in place by 2014 after consultation.
At the same time, his department released financial data aimed at undercutting the Assembly of First Nation’s claim that on-reserve K to 12 education is severely underfunded. The department claimed it provided $13,542 in funding per student for elementary and high school education between 2010 and 2011. The total didn’t include spending on infrastructure, the department said.
The AFN has said First Nations education faces an about $3 billion funding gap and that Ottawa only provides about $7,000 per First Nation student compared to the about $10,000 per student level of funding in province-run schools. There has also been a 2 per cent cap on yearly funding increases for education since 1996.
Duncan, however, said federal funding levels are adequate.
“The numbers show that federal per student funding is across the country comparable to provincial, per student funding levels,” said Duncan.
The government’s education announcement was quickly dismissed by First Nations leaders gathered just down the road at a congress centre discussing education in an Assembly of First Nations organized summit. The timing of Duncan’s announcement to coincide with their education summit was not lost on the chiefs.
AFN National Chief Shawn Atleo said the Harper government treated First Nations with “disregard and disrespect.”
Atleo said “elements of us being savages” were still found in the “behaviour of government.”
Some chiefs called for acts of civil disobedience to force Ottawa’s hand on education.
“Let’s block all their main roads,” said Rolling River First Nation Chief Shannacappo.
“We need to mobilize now…the initial impact has to be huge, the government has to feel it, parliament has to feel the building shake,” said Fort Albany First Nation Chief Rex Knapaysweet.
Atleo said he understood the frustration and anger, but cautioned leaders to be “careful with how we give expression” to anger.
Atleo, however, repeated his message that Ottawa’s current approach was not working.
“Federal legislation and federal programming is not our process and not our answer,” he said.
