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INAC heads back to the woodshed

Author

Paul Barnsley, Windspeaker Staff Writer, Ottawa

Volume

22

Issue

9

Year

2004

Page 12

Sheila Fraser and her staff released a report card on Indian education and have given the department of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) a failing grade.

The auditor general said INAC does not know whether funding to First Nations is sufficient to meet the education standards it has set or whether the results achieved are in line with the resources provided. The budget for this program is over $1 billion annually.

The auditor general's office concluded that "a significant education gap exists between First Nations people living on reserves and the Canadian population as a whole and that the time estimated to close this gap has increased slightly, from about 27 to 28 years."

INAC has not done the work necessary to "ensure equitable access to as many students as possible, and the department does not know whether the funds allocated have been used for the purpose intended. In addition, the information available on the performance of the program is inadequate. As a result, the department does not know whether program funds are sufficient to support all eligible students, and it has no assurance that only eligible students taking eligible courses are receiving funding."

The report criticized the way INAC accounts to Parliament as well.

"We also noted discrepancies in the information that the department provided to the Treasury Board about the way the program operates. Moreover, Parliament is not receiving a complete picture of the program and how effective it has been in narrowing the gap in post-secondary education between First Nations and the Canadian population as a whole."

The auditor general noted as fact that "First Nations students and communities face fundamental issues and challenges that are more prevalent for them than for other Canadians and may impede their educational achievement."

The issues mentioned were "health problems, poor economic conditions, racism, and issues related to geography and demography."

Elementary and secondary education is INAC's largest program area, with the $1.1 billion in expenditures representing over 20 per cent of the department's budget for 2003-04. INAC also spends about $213 million annually on educational facilities.

"During the 2002-03 fiscal year, education funding supported about 120,000 students, of whom about 60 per cent attended schools located on reserve while the other 40 per cent attended provincial or private schools. Devolution of education to First Nation control is nearly complete nationally. Of the 503 schools on reserve, INAC now manages only seven.

The report mainly centres on the fact that INAC is well aware of the problems that have been identified and has done little to address them over the last four years.

In April 2000, the auditor general reported that "the progress in closing the education gap between First Nations people living on reserves and the overall Canadian population had been unacceptably slow and that immediate action needed to be taken to close this gap."

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts issued a report to Parliament in June 2000 that, the report said "expressed serious concern about the unacceptable state of First Nations elementary and secondary education and criticized the department's 'hands-off' management approach. While agreeing with the principle of devolution, the committee insisted that this principle must be accompanied with clearly defined roles and responsibilities agreed to by all parties.

The department's response to the auditor general's most recent criticisms was included in the report.

"First Nations education is one of the highest priorities of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. The gains in education have accounted for the single biggest contribution to the closing of the gap in the Human Development Index between Aboriginal Canadians and Canadian society as a whole. The department recognizes the importance of the issues raised in this chapter and reitertes its commitment to working with First Nations and other stakeholders to improve educational outcomes for First Nations' students. Nearly all of the department's education programs are delivered either directly by or in consultation with First Nations. Since devolution of program delivery to First Nations also assumes devolution of some accountability for management and results, [INAC] acknowledges the need for the department, First Nations, and other partners to clarify their respective roles and responsibilities within a context of shared accountability."

INAC also said that follow-up work to the April 2004 Canada-Aboriginal Peoples Roundtable may help to guide the work "in support of improved First Nations educational outcomes in the broader context of Aboriginal lifelong learning."

Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine responded to the report by noting that "educational parity is still a long way off for First Nations."

"The lack of progress on First Nations education is alarming," Fontaine added. "In the last four years there has been literally no progress in closing the gap in graduation rates between First Nations and Canadian citizens. At the current rate, it will take 28 years for First Nations to catch-up to the non-Aboriginal population. If this is left unchecked it's going to create a crisis in Canada's economy."

He said the funding increases for INAC's core programs (which includes education) were capped in 1996 at two per cent per year, an amount that does not match inflation or population growth.