Nault calls budget a "down payment"

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The minister of Indian Affairs sounded a little defensive when he discussed the recent federal budget with the Native press during a conference call on Dec. 12.

As Native leaders responded to the budget by saying they had been expecting far more after hearing the promises made by the prime minister during last January's Speech from the Throne, Minister Robert Nault defended his government's spending decisions.

"I have coined the phrase in the last few days that this to me is a 'down payment' towards the direction and initiative that we have committed ourselves to work with Aboriginal people through the Speech from the Throne in the next four, five years. The objective, of course, is to improve the quality of life of First Nations citizens, in particular, in my mandate, which is on reserve," he said. "The $185 million in new investment over the next two years is intended to work with early childhood development, which is $100 million, fetal alcohol syndrome, which is $25 million over two years, and of course a budget increase of $60 million in funding to support special education, which is one of the major components and improvements that we're looking for in our education system for Aboriginal people."

He admitted the money for special education was long overdue.

"That's been a major flaw and a gap in our services to Aboriginal children and this is, I believe, a very strong start and beginning to improving the education system for First Nation children right across the country," he said.

Although, Finance Minister Paul Martin didn't take up nearly as much of his budget speech talking about Aboriginal issues as Governor General Adrienne Clarkson dedicated to the subject during her Throne Speech, Nault pointed out that Native people will get their share of spending that isn't necessarily targeted at Native communities.

"Some have not been quick to catch this in the budget-the infrastructure dollars that were announced of some $2 billion. It's safe to say that every infrastructure program that we've ever announced had a component for Aboriginal people and this one will be no different," he said. "So I think we will also get an increase in infrastructure dollars to be used in the communities to develop our sewer, our water and the other infrastructure needs that we're always struggling with."

Martin's announcement that $680 million will be allocated over the next five years for affordable housing will also have a spillover effect for Native people, Nault said.

"I think that will have a major impact for Aboriginal people. As we speak, I've been in discussions with Minister (Alfonso) Gagliano, the minister responsible for CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation) about our work between his department and mine and the relationship we have in making sure that Aboriginal Canadians' housing starts to improve over the long haul," Nault said.

The minister dashed any hopes that the expectations raised by the Throne Speech would be satisfied by announcements made when the prime minister's reference committee on Aboriginal issues made its report.

"No, I wouldn't be able to make that kind of commitment or suggestion today. I think the objective of the reference group, as has been laid out on a number of occasions, is to bring all the different ministers who have direct roles and responsibilities for Aboriginal people into the same room to talk about the past, the present and the future with an eye of finding better ways to succeed and a lot quicker than we have been able to in the past," he said. "So I don't think the objective of the reference group is to come out with strategies that would cause ministers to make announcements outside the budget process. ...If you're asking if we're going to be looking at policy initiatives and possibly policy changes, that certainly would be what discussions are all about, that can be made any time. But as far as new resources, if that's what you're talking about, those usuallycome through the budget cycle."

Asked if he was satisfied with the spending initiatives announced in the budget, Nault reminded reporters that his department escaped the cuts imposed on other departments in the mid-1990s.

"I think it's a good start. One of the things I have said to the media that's extremely important to remember is that a number of departments, when we were dealing with deficit issues in the past, got significant cuts. Ours is a department that never had a cut in this government's mandate since '93 on. In fact, we're probably averaging between five and seven per cent every year if you include the resources we get from Treasury Board and Finance for claim settlements. That's a significant amount of money on average per year. This year we've gotten a guaranteed two per cent increase in our budget, plus the announcements of the $185 million, continuing programs and so on. I think we've been getting our fair share and then some on a regular basis and we're continuing to develop our strategy based on the need to continue to get increases because of the fact that we have a very fast growing, young population, and the needs are there especially in areas like education, housing, infrastructure and, obviously, creating an economy, which is my priority."

Despite having no money to start new initiatives, the minister said the under-funded post secondary education area will be a priority.

"We do not believe it's acceptable to have First Nation young people, in particular young people who have the qualities to go on to post-secondary education, be held back because of a lack of resources. So that will be one of the major priorities for me this year," he said.

"I have committed myself to making sure we have a good discussion this year about the education structure, the authorities that are there, the jurisdiction that is there, how it's been put in place and whether in fact we need to make some changes to that in order to get better results. And that inclues the resources necessary to make sure our young people can go on to post-secondary and get that education that they need to get a job, which is the end result of all of this."

Asked if the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 had changed the prime minister's social change agenda, the minister said no.

"I don't think it had any effect from the perspective of the First Nation agenda being a priority of the prime minister and this government. Obviously, Sept. 11 had an effect on the budget lines because we're putting over $5 billion into security. It's a total of seven but as you know we're looking, through some fees for airline passengers, to recoup some of that money, which is close to $2 billion as I understand. So that $5 billion hit on the treasury may have had an impact on decisions that were made as to how much money we'd get in the early going of this mandate for Aboriginal issues. But as far as the prime minister, myself and other members of cabinet, we're very committed to this agenda and we believe the down payment that we've made, as I've been calling it, in the budget is an indication that we are serious about making some changes and some progress on improving the lives of Aboriginal people," he said.