Saskatchewan may hand over funding for social programs

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The province of Saskatchewan is considering a plan to hand over millions of dollars to Natives as a first step toward self-government.

A recently leaked provincial cabinet document indicates the government might hand up to $550 million in funding over to Native groups to co-manage various social programs.

The 33-page brief is only a policy framework for the government's relationship with Indian and Metis peoples in the province, Indian Affairs Minister Bob Mitchell said.

The $550 million figure represents current government spending on Natives.

"What the document says is that what we are spending...on programs that relate to Indian and Metis people, because we include health and social services and justice and the rest of it, totals that number."

Although he downplayed the importance of the April 5, 1993 document, which has yet to be approved by caucus, Mitchell did say it could affect how the province will address Native self-government funding issues.

"In self-government discussions with Aboriginal people, some of this funding will find its way over to Aboriginal governments. And those negotiations haven't even started."

The exact amounts in the transfer have yet to be negotiated, but the funds will be drawn from the $550 million mentioned in the brief, Mitchell said. That figure was based on existing levels of funding to Native programs such as education, health, justice and social services spending.