Blondin-Andrew stresses Native involvement in social policy review

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Ethel Blondin-Andrew, federal secretary of the state for training and youth, the only Aboriginal member of the Liberal cabinet, claims she was misquoted by Broadcast News in a recent wire story. The Western Arctic Member of Parliament was responding to a story reporting on her comments at a Calgary Native health conference at the end of November.

"I didn't say that," said Blondin-Andrew, about the report that she'd called for Native people to stop being victims. "It's not as simple as that. We must take control of our own destiny, and part of that is dealing with self-image."

Blondin-Andrew was in Edmonton on Dec. 2 in part to urge Natives and women to get involved in the special policy reforms being spearheaded by Lloyd Axwothy's department of Human Resources. She was speaking at a public forum organized by the Edmonton Social Planning Council

She stressed that one of her objectives was to develop a structure wherein there is "a separate track" for Aboriginal people. That would allow the devolution of services from the large federal institutions onto the local communities, especially onto the structure of local government for Native people.

"The more social security reform is delayed, the more it seems to become part of an economic exercise and falls under the control of those who don't share our ideals and who don't have the same heart," Blondin-Andrew said.

She explained that a proactive and holistic approach, taking into account the needs of the individuals and communities involved, will be overwhelmed by a cost-effective solution if those involved allow that to happen.

Social policy reform is central to Blondin-Andrew's mission because more than 1.2 million Canadian children are from low-income families. As well, a disproportionate number of them are from the Aboriginal community, which is a personal concern for the Dene MP.

All of the panel speakers equated child care with eliminating child poverty and preparation for employment.

Axworthy's original paper, Improving Social Security in Canada, is concerned almost exclusively with reducing the number of people reliant upon the various forms of social assistance in Canada.

Blondin-Andrew denied that the emphasis on job creation and training would benefit those in the cities more than those in the North or in isolated settlements.