Aboriginal AIDS funding slashed with no right of appeal

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Aboriginal AIDS prevention programs are suffering funding cuts just as the communities they target have been judged at highest risk in the nation for epidemics of the deadly disease.

A spokesperson for the Feather of Hope Aboriginal AIDS Prevention Society in Edmonton charges federal budget cuts with curtailing prevention programs among Aboriginal communities in Alberta. The Edmonton-based program was turned down for $40,000 of funding by Health Canada through the AIDS community Action Program, said Ken Ward.

In the letter rejecting Feather of Hope's proposal, the federal committee first recognized the commitment and impressive recent successes of the Feather of Hope, in particular the gathering of Elders, then announced they would receive no funding.

"There was no means to appeal and no opportunity for negotiation," said Ward, an HIV positive Native who was instrumental in developing the Feather of Hope, and is now chairman of the board.

"They say our project does not qualify because it is not a new initiative," explained Dave Desjardins, executive director of Feather of Hope. "They say it fails to address community development. But if going into Aboriginal communities for the first time and helping members of that community develop the skills to provide ongoing support, information and preventative education is not community development, then I don't know what is."

The decision comes on the heels of a report to the National Workshop on HIV, Alcohol and Other Drug use by Dr. Michael O'Shaughnessy of the B.C. Centre for Excellence on AIDS. He identifies Aboriginal people at highest risk for serious AIDS epidemic because no strategy has been developed to address their specific needs.

"This was a crucial year," says Ward. "We have more Aboriginal persons with AIDS coming to Feather of Hope, not only seeking support, but offering us their help by telling their stories to Aboriginal groups as only Natives can."

In August of 1990, the Feather of Hope Aboriginal AIDS Prevention Society was registered as a non-profit agency. The program's initial funding came from the AIDS Community Action Program, and the Medical Service Branch. The provincial AIDS program provided an initial $91,000 for 21 community-based initiatives. This is in stark contrast to other provinces such as Manitoba, which dedicated $393,000 to just one such AIDS program delivered to the Swampy Cree Band of The Pas.

Currently, the Alberta program has three full-time staff who give preventative education presentations and support to 43 Indian bands, reserves and to Aboriginals in urban areas. The $40,000 would have provided a second community development worker.

At a traditional Elders gathering this April, Feather of Hope was able to address the mistaken perception HIV/AIDS effects only urban Natives and that remote communities are safe from it.

Since that gathering, calls for Aboriginal speakers to address Native communities have increased, said Ward, but with almost one third of their anticipated funding cut, the bare bones program may be unable to help.

Penny Mossman, program consultant to AIDS Community Action Program, said they will expect project evaluation to be part of any future proposal.

At a time when Aboriginal AIDS programs delivered for and by Aboriginal people are gaining credibility in Native communities why is funding being denied, asks Dejardins.

"It has to stop and we have to stop it. Aboriginal AIDS projects in Atlantic Canada, British Columbia, and the prairies have also been subjected to funding cuts."

For more information on the Feather of Hope, write 201, 11456 Jasper Avenue, Edmonton, AB T5K 0M1 or phone (403) 488-5773.