Meech Lake threatens children's future

Page 2

The Meech Lake accord threatens Native people's control over their children's future, charges National Indian leader George Erasmus.

"Meech Lake will severely limit our abilities to control child care services. Under its current provisions, provinces can opt out of federal programs and take that money for their own provincial programs," said Erasmus, national chief of the 700,000-member Assembly of First Nations.

Erasmus sees the accord as a "wholesale shift in Indian child care services" and suspects worse things are to come once the Meech Lake amendments are implemented.

Under the accord, Erasmus fears the federal government will try to control all programs coming to the First Nations.

"The federal and provincial government will work hand-in-hand to dictate the standards and provisions of First Nations child care and we won't be able to get the programs.

"The situation will continue (to the point) where children will be taken care of by non-First Nation institutions. This has to stop."

Erasmus believes the Meech Lake accord is a particularly bitter pill for Canada's 1.5 million Native people to have to swallow.

The accord to bring Quebec into the Constitutional fold recognizes Quebec as a distinct society and increases provincial powers in several areas. Meech Lake has been ratified by Parliament and eight provinces, but still needs approval from New Brunswick and Manitoba by June 1990 to become law.

As such, the National Inquiry into First Nation's child care (March 7-22) seems to have come at a critical time, Erasmus noted.

Indian children in Canada under the age of seven make up 15 per cent (109,000) of the total Native population. Since the landmark decision to reinstate status, Indian women under Bill C-31, an estimated 10,000 additional children will be added to that number.

Another large group of children between the ages of seven and 14 also require services. Combined, they make up 40 per cent of Canada's Native population.

"The care of these children is no doubt an urgent matter with such other highlights as language erosion, with 49 out of 53 (Indian) languages dying," states an AFN press release.

Erasmus is alarmed by the statistics and adamant that control over Native children's future be made a priority.

"In the long run, we are after more and sufficient resources, but in the short run, we are after better child care for our youngest generation.

"The First Nations must get control, otherwise, they will fall into some breakdown syndrome which look like failure when all it is, is the difficulty to cope with the (child care) system."