Ottawa ON – In her final report released last week in Ottawa, retiring Auditor General Sheila Fraser stated, “Despite the federal government’s many efforts to implement our recommendations and improve its First Nations programs, we have seen a lack of progress in improving the lives and well-being of people living on reserves.”
None of this should come as a surprise to this government or to Canadians in general. For over a decade various reports have been highly critical of government efforts to improve conditions on reserves. These reports have highlighted three key areas of neglect, education, housing and drinking water.
Recently, Carolyn Bennett, the Liberal Party’s aboriginal affairs critic raised a good point when she wrote that “Our Aboriginal people lag terribly behind in completing high school — according to the 2006 census 34 per cent of the Aboriginal population aged 25 to 64 do not have a high school diploma, compared to 15 per cent for the non-Aboriginal population, while only 8 per cent of Aboriginals have a university degree compared to 23 per cent of non-Aboriginals.”
Would Canadians in suburban Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal allow similar conditions to exist if we were discussing the education of their children? Probably not as most parents consider quality education to be a right. They study surveys of various high schools and the quality of the education they provide. They know how their children’s high school ranks compared to the one across town. Even the media gets into the act and reports on the various rankings along with the explanations of board officials if the numbers aren’t as high as expected. We don’t see anywhere near the same level of concern for First Nations educational standards.
If all levels of government, school boards and parents believe that education is the way forward for our children and that our success as a country will largely depend on the education of future generations, then how can we not believe the same about schooling on reserves?
Change is needed and it must come sooner rather than later. There has been some progress. AFN Chief Shawn Atleo has stated that education is a priority and his position is backed by the Assembly of First Nations. Within the last few weeks, the federal government also announced “The Canada-First Nations Joint Action Plan” which sets out to establish panels on education and economic development for First Nations.
Clearly everyone recognizes the seriousness of the problem. Both sides must also recognize that we do not need years of study or years of protracted negotiations on such an important issue as the education of our First Nations students.
Having both sides looking at the issue of aboriginal education at the same time is a good thing, but it is not enough. It is only a first step. The new panel on education must act quickly. It must meet, work with First Nations communities and report back as soon as possible. The basic issues are already known. Now is the time to be looking at real solutions. Hopefully the panel with the support of First Nations will present a report that includes both short and long term goals, measurable outcomes, costing, and an implementation schedule.
We can look at the past and blame each other for lack of progress or we can work together and plan for the future and show real progress. The time for action has arrived.