First Nation leaders pass AFN resolution rejecting government's First Nation Education Act
Key moments in the struggle over First Nations schooling policy
BY THE CANADIAN PRESS JULY 21, 2013
Education policy has long been a source of tension between the federal government and First Nations, from the painful legacy of residential schools to the current debate over the upcoming First Nation Education Act. Here are some key moments:
1874
The Canadian government's involvement in residential schools begins. Aboriginal children are removed from their communities across the country and placed in government-funded, church-run institutions. These schools are used to assimilate aboriginal children, by exposing them to new language and cultural traditions while stripping them of their own.
1972
The National Indian Brotherhood (which later becomes the Assembly of First Nations) asks for more control of its peoples' education. A policy is outlined in a paper called Indian Control of Indian Education.
1996
The last residential school closes in Yellowknife. The negative repercussions of life at these schools trickles down through generations of aboriginal peoples.
2004
Canada's auditor general finds that if current trends continue, it will take nearly 30 years for aboriginal people on reserves to obtain educational equality with the rest of the Canadian population.
2008
June 11: Prime Minister Stephen Harper offers an official apology, on behalf of Canada, to survivors of the residential school system.
Along with the apology, the federal government establishes the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The TRC is given a $60-million budget, and a five-year mandate to investigate and document this under-represented period in Canada's historical archives.
2010
June 9: AFN makes a call to action on First Nations education, inviting the entire country to participate in improving education on reserves.
July 22: AFN releases "First Nations Control of First Nations Education 2010." AFN Chief Shawn Atleo asks that First Nations people be allowed to lead the way in improving their education.
2012
Jan. 24: A Crown-First Nations gathering is held. A commitment is made to "take action on education."
Dec. 11: Plans are announced for a First Nation Education Act. A discussion guide is published and released by the government, launching the first phase of the consultation process.
2013
May: After six months, phase one of the consultation process ends.
June 11: On the five-year anniversary of Harper's residential-schools apology, AFN Chief Atleo expresses discontent with relations with the government. He has sent a letter to Harper citing areas that must be addressed if reconciliation is to be achieved.
July 12: A letter is sent from the government to chiefs, updating them on the consultation process and outlining the next steps in preparing the First Nation Education Act.
The government releases a "blueprint" of the proposed legislation, which opens the second consultation phase. The legislation is slated to be presented before Parliament this fall.
The early outline of the bill proposes standards for "school-success plans" for each First Nation school; suggests following up with annual reports; and promises governance "options" for communities in accordance with treaty rights.
2014
September: The Canadian government hopes to implement the First Nations Education Act.
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First Nations education debate spurred by past abuses
MEGAN DOLSKI - MONTREAL - The Canadian Press - Jul. 21 2013
Aboriginal leaders are pointing to past abuses as evidence that the federal government should let their communities craft their own education policies.
When news broke that more than 1,300 aboriginal people, mostly children, were used as subjects of nutritional experiments initiated by the Canadian government in the 1940s and 1950s, it struck a chord with aboriginal leaders that was all-too-contemporary.
A statement from the Assembly of First Nations said such horrors would never have happened if aboriginal people were in control of their own lives and communities.
News of the old abuses resurfaced as the national organization was meeting this week in Whitehorse, where members were discussing education reform.
Some lamented that federal policy-makers haven't learned key lessons of the past, as they prepare to present the First Nation Education Act to Parliament this fall.
"The pattern in which the federal government has approached this (legislation) hasn't broken the pattern we are looking to break," Assembly of First Nations Chief Shawn Atleo said in an interview.
Participants at the Whitehorse meeting issued a statement asking Canada to work with First Nations as partners on a path to progress.
Since 2012, the federal government has been crafting legislation that it says does exactly that. It says it has consulted with aboriginal communities at every step in the process, met with 600 people and received written input from almost 600 more.
The legislation would create a framework allowing First Nations to establish their own education systems.
The government sent a letter to First Nations chiefs earlier this month outlining a "blueprint" of its planned legislation, which is now available online, and has requested feedback on progress made to date.
That draft version of the bill proposes standards for "school-success plans" for each First Nation school; suggests following up with annual reports; and promises governance "options" for communities in accordance with treaty rights.
But the AFN unanimously passed a motion this week opposing the government blueprint, citing seven key problems with it.
That motion pointed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's 2008 Residential Schools apology and cited his statement that "this policy of assimilation is wrong, has caused great harm, and has no place in our country."
The motion said the impending legislation "denies" the primary importance of First Nations languages and cultures.
It also cited a failure to: affirm First Nation control over First Nation Education; apply the successful lessons learned by First Nations; and address historic funding shortfalls.
Since 1996, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development has seen its education funds capped at a two per cent increase per year.
Meanwhile, the aboriginal population is growing at a much faster rate. It grew just over 20 per cent from 2006 to 2011, in contrast to the rest of the population which grew about five per cent.
The AFN pegs the funding shortfall at $3-billion since 1996.
Mr. Atleo says there are still problems that date back to the painful residential-school era.
"I can make the link to that (malnourishment) study, because it was clear back in the '40s that the problem was that there wasn't adequate funding," he said.
"(The government) knew it beforehand, they knew it after, and there are studies today that demonstrate there are unfair funding levels for First Nations learners."
Provincial bodies have also taken steps to fight the legislation.
In Quebec, First Nations communities commissioned a firm to produce a legal opinion on whether the government's consultation process respected its constitutional obligations.
Hutchins Legal Inc. determined that - as of March 15 - the government's consultation process had fallen short of fulfilling its constitutional duties.
First Nations in Saskatchewan took a more pre-emptive approach.
Vice-Chief Bobby Cameron of the Saskatchewan Federation of Indian Nations recently asked all the association's member-nations to develop and implement their own education acts before the federal government beat them to it.
When asked about concerns regarding the process, the federal government said in an email that the consultation was "ongoing."
When Nippissing University President Michael DeGagne spoke to the Whitehorse assembly, he described misunderstandings between non-native and native leaders.
"Aboriginal people are not saying, 'Give us control of our education,' because they want control," he said in an interview later.
"They are asking for control so they can have better outcomes."
Mr. DeGagne stressed repeatedly that doing so did not mean lowering standards, something he said is feared by non-native policy-makers.
"It just means educating in a different way," he said in the interview. "The way aboriginal people look at the world is not second-rate, and we have to give ourselves credit for that."
He said consultation really needs to come from openness from both parties.
"We have to consult from a place that is almost a blank piece of paper," he said.
"It's different from saying, 'Look, this is my framework I'd appreciate if you'd sign it."'
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