First Nation Education Act will be 'transformational', says Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt
BY MARK KENNEDY, POSTMEDIA NEWSOCTOBER 8, 2013 http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/First+Nation+Education+will+transformational+says/9013065/story.html Prime Minister Stephen Harper is joined by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt and Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq as they take part in a meeting with Artic leaders in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut in August. Valcourt trumpeted as 'transformational' a First Nation Education Act he will soon introduce in Parliament. Photograph by: Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press/Files, Postmedia NewsOTTAWA - The Harper government is poised to unveil education reform measures for First Nations children that are so historic it could turn the page on more than a century of economic and social ills faced by aboriginals, says a federal cabinet minister. In an interview with Postmedia News on Tuesday, Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt trumpeted as "transformational" a First Nation Education Act he will soon introduce in Parliament. Valcourt also rejected concerns from aboriginal leaders the government might make the mistake of repeating previous "assimilationist" policies from past decades that lay behind residential schools. The government's education reforms will be featured in next week's throne speech and be a centerpiece of its aboriginal affairs agenda in the coming months. "We think it is high time, given the importance of population growth of First Nations living on reserves, that these kids get the same opportunities as other Canadians," said Valcourt. The problem, he said, is that aboriginal children are served by a "non-system" of education - which results in staggeringly high drop-out rates and which puts those young people in an "intolerable" situation. According to a blueprint released this summer, the upcoming bill will allow schools to be community-operated through First Nations or an agreement with a province, and there will be standards for qualifications of teaching staff and curriculum and graduation requirements for students. There will be regulations governing discipline (such as codes of conduct and policies on suspension and expulsion), hours of instruction, class size and transportation. "I personally believe that the First Nation Education Act will be transformational, like no other measures that have been taken in 50 years, 100 years," said Valcourt. He said that as aboriginal parents see more of their young people graduate with a solid education, the effects will ripple throughout communities and help end many of the social problems that have affected First Nations. "All of these things are affected by what? At the bottom of it all, it's education." "However you cut it - whether you look at those social indicators. Suicide rates. Violence against aboriginal women and girls. Incarceration rates." Aboriginal chiefs agree on the fundamental need for improvement in education but they have raised concerns about the "unilateral" and "top-down" approach taken by the Conservative government. Earlier this week, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo said the government's approach to working with First Nations on the forthcoming act has been reflective of how federal governments have always acted - "paternalistic at best and assimilationist at worst." Aboriginal leaders worry the upcoming act will impose standards that don't reflect indigenous culture, and that funding for aboriginal education won't be increased. But Valcourt insisted he has tried to consult aboriginal leaders and is still hoping to get them onside. Critics say aboriginal education is significantly under-funded. But Valcourt boasted the initiative will be "revolutionary" because, for the first time, aboriginal schools will have the stability of predictable funding that has a "statutory base." Meanwhile, despite continuing calls for a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women, Valcourt insisted the government won't make that move. "This issue has been studied extensively," he said. "I've been in government long enough to know that when a government doesn't want to move or take action, they study or they order an inquiry. So instead of passing the buck, we are taking action." Earlier in the day, Valcourt met with James Anaya, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples who is conducting a week-long visit of Canada to examine this country's treatment of indigenous peoples. The Harper government has a record of being publicly disdainful of other UN special rapporteurs and it has already been critical of how Anaya spoke out last year about the living conditions at the Attawapiskat reserve in Northern Ontario. On Tuesday, Valcourt spoke highly of Anaya, calling him an "honorable" and "intelligent" person who is "very reasonable and practical." "We are advocates of human rights throughout the world. This is our foreign policy. So we have no objection at all to Mr. Anaya doing his work and seeing for himself how Canada is protecting the human rights of all Canadians, including aboriginals." NDP Leader Tom Mulcair and some of his party's MPs also met with Anaya on Tuesday. He said they raised several issues with him, including the government's failure to "respect the rule of law." "Every step of the way, the federal government spends hundreds of millions of dollars to fight First Nations before the courts," said Mulcair. "And then they don't respect decisions that are invariably in favour of First Nations." - With files from Jessica Barrett mkenn...@postmedia.com Twitter.com/Mark_Kennedy_ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ Native News North List info{all lists}: http://nativenewsonline.org/natnews.htm Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NatNews-north/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: natnews-north-dig...@yahoogroups.com natnews-north-fullfeatu...@yahoogroups.com <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: natnews-north-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/
