From Rabble.ca

Defer, Deflect, Deny, Destroy: Harper's First Nation Education Act

BY PAMELA PALMATER | OCTOBER 10, 2013

Since the federal government first assumed control over First Nation education, First Nations have suffered poor educational outcomes. During the residential school era, federal control over First Nation education meant a very real chance of starvation, torture, abuse, medical experimentation, beatings and death for the students. Upwards of 40 per cent of the children who entered residential schools never made it out alive and others were permanently scarred.

Prime Minister Harper apologized for the residential school apology, but has not taken a single step to address the disastrous results which stemmed from it like lost culture, language, identity, traditional Indigenous knowledges, belief systems, values, customs and practices. No sooner was the weak apology offered when Conservative MP Pierre Poilievre condemned it as a waste of money. The Harper government soon followed the apology by cutting funding to Indigenous languages which confirmed the lack of sincerity in the apology.

All Apologies

Even a child knows that an apology is more than words; it requires an acknowledgement of the harm done, acceptance of responsibility for that harm, a promise not to do it again and actions to try to make amends for the harm done. Harper has not offered a true apology nor taken real actions to address the significant harms done. A litigation settlement for personal injuries, rapes and molestations that happened in those schools does not address the assimilatory harms. 

If Harper was sincere about the wrongfulness of Canada's long-standing assimilation policy, it would not continue to have assimilation as its number one policy objective with regards to First Nations. If there was a true interest in righting wrongs in First Nation education, Harper need only read the many reports, publications, studies and statistics in relation to First Nation education which have clearly outlined the problems and the solutions. Yet, Harper has implemented his standard modus operandi in relation to First Nations issues: deny, deflect, defer and destroy.

Evidence Contradicts Official Position

Even when faced with contrary evidence, Harper's government has consistently denied that there is a problem with funding or federal control over First Nation education. Instead they issue press releases and make public statements about how much they fund First Nation education and focus on isolated First Nations which have recently built schools. The Office of the Correctional Investigator, The Auditor General, Special Ministerial Representatives, United Nations investigators and numerous experts have raised the alarm on the serious nature of federal control over First Nation education. Some of the conclusions include the following:

- Indian Affairs has failed to implement recommendations "most important to lives and well-being of First Nations" (Auditor General 2011);

- 73 per cent of all water, 65 per cent waste water systems in FNs are high risk - INAC so behind in infrastructure funding, will take $4.7 billion just to fix current systems (Neegan 2011);

- The "inequitable and differential outcomes for Aboriginal offenders" are the direct result of "federal correctional policies and practices" (Correctional Investigator 2010);

- Current funding practices "do not lead to equitable funding among Aboriginal and First Nation communities" (OAG 2008);

- Funding inequities results in inability for First Nations to provide adequate child welfare services (Auditor General 2008);

- Unequal access to services for First Nations represent "contributing factors to the over-representation of Aboriginal children in child welfare system" (INAC 2004);

- Funding formula created by INAC does not ensure equitable access to education & gap widening (Auditor General 2004);

- INAC failed to give Parliament real picture on FN housing -- said increased housing stock overall, but found an actual decline of 30 per cent (Auditor General 2003).

When the evidence is too overwhelming and the media will not let the issue drop, then the Harper Conservatives deflect responsibility and try to either change the subject or shift the blame to First Nations themselves by making allegations against First Nation leaders as corrupt or mismanaging funds. This pattern has been too consistent and one need only look at the housing crisis in Attawapiskat, the corresponding allegation of mismanagement and the court case which cleared Chief Spence's name to see this m.o. in action.

Deferral is Not a River in Egypt

Sometimes, like in the case of First Nation education, the public criticism is so intense that deflection will not work and then Harper usually defers the issue to be studied. In the case of First Nation education, many successive federal governments have followed the same pattern of deferring the issue to study and the result is numerous studies. The problem for Harper is that all these studies continue to say the exact same thing: the problem is federal control and chronic underfunding of First Nation education. It should be no surprise that the studies were nearly unanimous in their solutions for poor First Nation education outcomes: First Nation control and appropriate funding. It's not rocket science Harper.

When faced with an issue that simply won't go away, and the usual deny, deflect and defer tactics won't work; Harper usually reverts back to federal policy objective of assimilating Indians: destroying the "problem" all together. In an aggressive full blitz attack, Harper has introduced a complex legislative agenda which will have essentially the same effect as the White Paper 1969 would have: destroy Indians, reserves, treaties and any programs and services associated with them. With regards to education, Harper will introduce the First Nation Education Act, national legislation designed to trick First Nations into voluntarily giving up their treaty right to education in exchange for a federally-controlled legislative program.

What are the implications of this legislation? The draft legislation has not yet been shared with the public, so I can't comment on the specifics, but based on INAC's Blueprint for Legislation document shared with First Nations, one can clearly see that First Nation concerns were valid:

(1) Indian agent-type federal controls, inspections and approvals will be tight;

(2) The potential option of local First Nation control is limited and conditional;

(3) There will be no guaranteed funding as funding will still be policy-based; and

(4) Although promoted as optional legislation, the legislation proposes to set out a process for legal recognition and authorization to run schools.

One need only look at the current suite of legislation to see where this legislation is headed.

Failure to Consult First Nations

Other serious concerns related to this legislation include the fact that there were no consultations which respect Canada's legal obligation to obtain the free, informed and prior consent of First Nations required under section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Instead, engagement sessions were held in urban areas across the country and largely skipped the 615+ First Nation communities. This legislation is paternalistic, unilaterally drafted and meant to be a one-size fits all approach to deflecting the real issue: federal control and chronic under-funding. The majority of First Nations did NOT ask for legislation and in fact passed numerous resolutions at the national, regional and provincial levels specifically opposing this legislation.

One cannot forget that for many First Nations, First Nation education is a treaty right and those treaties are protected in both domestic and international law. Treaties are forever and are now protected in section 35 and cannot be unilaterally amended. This, together with the fact that this legislation also proposes to offload (at least in part) First Nation education to the provinces makes this legislation unconstitutional. Canada is forgetting that when it supported UNDRIP, that article 14 states that First Nations have a right to establish and control their own education systems and Canada has an obligation to ensure that First Nation children have access.

The failure to address First Nation education outcomes doesn't even make economic sense. The 2 per cent cap placed on funding has only made a bad situation worse. Yet, the studies show that were Canada to eliminate the gap between Canadian and First Nation education outcomes, this would yield $179 billion on GDP back to Canada. Why then would Canada continue to pay $100,000 a year to wrongfully imprison First Nations peoples, when a 4 year university education only costs $60,000 and we know the social and economic benefits of a good education? Canadians enjoy good education systems funded in large part from the wealth obtained from Indigenous lands and resources. It's time to share the wealth as envisioned in the treaties.

Every time Canada comes up with an idea on how to "fix" the "Indian problem" our people are oppressed, assimilated or lose our lives. Canada has failed miserably in their First Nation education policies. It's long past time to step aside and allow First Nations peoples to heal from the inter-generational devastation caused by federal controls and fully support First Nation-controlled education systems. The treaties promised to fund these systems so that First Nations would prosper equally with our treaty partners. It's time the treaties were honoured and all parties to the treaties enjoyed the benefits.

Forget more paternalistic federal legislation and honour the treaties.

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From WestCoastNativeNews.com

Hey Harper, First Nations Don't Need Another Top-Down Solution

DERRICK ON OCTOBER 11TH, 2013

Improving First Nations Education Outcomes Must Be First Nations Led

By: Hon. Carolyn Bennett

With the start of the new Parliamentary session next week, a key part of the government's agenda is expected to be sweeping legislation dealing with First Nations' education.

Unfortunately, the Conservatives are pursuing the same flawed approach on this critical issue as last session's bills on First Nations' water, matrimonial property on reserve and various other bills impacting Aboriginal Peoples. The Conservative government has unilaterally developed a blueprint for the legislation and is now trying to characterize a number of strictly controlled information sessions over the summer as consultation. Put simply, First Nations are about to be presented with another top-down, one-size-fits-all government solution, absent proper consultation and without the necessary resources to fix the problems.

First Nations have told the government that this approach is unacceptable and will simply produce a bill that won't work. Beyond the need to both recognize First Nations jurisdiction over their own education and develop a comprehensive approach to protect language and culture, First Nations have been clear that adequate, sustainable and predictable funding must be addressed in any legislation.

But just this week the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs publically stated that he intends to push through his "reform" of the First Nations' education system first and then look at funding after. In fact, to date the federal government has stubbornly refused to even admit there is a funding gap, despite clear evidence to the contrary.

The government's own 2012 Evaluation of the Elementary/Secondary Education Program on Reserve states, "Expenditures to First Nations and tribal councils for the operation of schools do not appear to account for actual cost variability applicable to the needs and circumstances of each community or school, and particularly the cost realities associated with isolation and small population." The Canadian Chamber of Commerce summarized the issue perfectly when they said, "Funding for aboriginal education at all levels has lagged for many years, and education results have, too. It's not hard to see the connection."

The intrinsic link between the fact that only one in three First Nations youth on reserve is graduating high school and average funding for students attending school on reserve is only two thirds that of provincial systems is undeniable. But the government's response to the unacceptable Aboriginal high school graduation rate has been to deny existing funding gaps and to set an uninspiring target of just an eight per cent improvement over five years. Unfortunately, they have failed to make any progress toward their unambitious and unacceptable goal. This is just not good enough. We need a real strategy with concrete targets for substantial improvements in outcomes with the resources to get the job done. An approach that sets out what, by when, and how.

We need to engage in a renewed respectful and inclusive process with First Nations like the one that resulted in the Kelowna Accord. That bottom up process lead to a series of concrete commitments including $1.8-billion over five years to achieve both a high school graduation rate for Aboriginal people equal to other Canadians and a 50 per cent improvement in post-secondary education completion rates by 2016. Unfortunately the current government walked away from those commitments and Aboriginal young people have paid the price with Canada diminished as a result.

Canada's subsequent failure to work collaboratively with Indigenous communities to improve education outcomes for Aboriginal Peoples not only denies them equality of opportunity, but squanders a needed source of future prosperity for all Canadians. The Canadian business community understands this and believes engaging the Aboriginal population in Canada - the youngest and fastest growing population in the country - is fundamental to dealing with an aging population and the current disconnect between workers' skills and labour market needs.

The Canadian Chamber of Commerce has identified Canada's labour skills shortage as one of the ten biggest barriers to Canadian competitiveness and the Aboriginal population as "a huge potential workforce" that we must support more. The Canadian Council of Chief Executives' 2012 pre-budget consultations also made it clear that the government must improve education and skill levels within the Aboriginal population and expand opportunities for Aboriginal peoples to participate fully in the economy.

But turning First Nation's education outcomes around requires a process that is First Nations-led and deals with critical issues like developing a secure personal cultural identity as part of the foundation of solutions rather than an afterthought.

Liberals know that simply bringing back the Kelowna Accord eight years later is not possible, but we do believe the true partnership that led to that breakthrough holds the key to improving current education outcomes for Aboriginal Peoples. It is time to go back to the drawing board and work in true partnership with First Nations to build solutions together that will work.