Toronto Star series "Ontario's forgotten children" starts April 23
North Spirit Lake, Sandy Lake and Weagamow were visited by writer Louise Brown and photojournalist Rene Johnston from the Toronto Star to produce a series of four articles called "Ontario's Forgotten Children". The stories describe some of the challenges facing remote First Nations in this part of northwestern Ontario.
The Auditor General's November 2004 report guided the reporters in their search for examples and stories. In particular the parts of the report that examined the dollars spent by INAC on funding native education across Canada including:
- While the Indian and Northern Affairs Department did some studies and began a few new programs, it made little progress on a range of problems cited in 2000, including a large gap in the number of native vs. non-native high school graduates.
- The time estimated to close that education gap had actually grown slightly, from 27 to 28 years.
- The department couldn’t say whether the more than $1 billion it spends funding native education is enough, and whether the results are acceptable.
- There is a large young native population. About 40 per cent of the registered Indian population is under 19, compared with 25 per cent in the Canadian population.
- Most native schools are in communities with fewer than 500 residents, making it difficult to offer a range of services.
- The department should clarify its duties and goals, and better track funding.
The first of several articles appeared in Saturday's issue of the Star. Click on the article title to read each of them. The third story was posted on Sunday. As well, there is a photo journal (requires Quicktime) about their trip.
- Making the grade (Apr. 23)
- Poverty, despair - and hope (Apr. 23)
- These shelves speak volumes (Apr. 24)
- No skyscrapers in this culture (Apr 25)
- Even the littlest can help (Apr 28)
- Fly-in schools taking action (Apr 30)
- Short-sighted Ottawa fails native students (May 1)
- writer Louise Brown and photojournalist Rene Johnston talk about their experiences at three native reserves in Ontario’s northwest in a slideshow of images from their trip
- Building bridges to native schools (May 2)
- Canada must nuture aboriginal talent - National Chief Phil Fontaine (May 2)
- Hiding Canada's ugly past (May 2)