Statement To The Legislature By The Honourable Kathleen Wynne, Minister Of Aboriginal Affairs On The Meeting Of Federal, Provincial And Territorial Ministers Responsible For Aboriginal Affairs And Leaders Of The National Aboriginal Organizations

Queen’s Park
Toronto, Ontario

April 5, 2012

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Mr. Speaker:

Next week I will have the honour of welcoming, to Ontario, the members of the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group.

This group includes premiers and ministers of Aboriginal Affairs from each of the provinces and territories. It also includes the participation and support of the leaders of the five national Aboriginal organizations – the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and the Native Women’s Association of Canada.Next week’s meeting will be Ontario’s fourth as Chair of this group – my first – and I’m looking forward to our discussions.

In the 2011 Speech from the Throne, our government committed to “continue to work hard to close the socio-economic gap between Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal Ontarians.”

The Aboriginal Affairs Working Group represents a concrete step toward closing this gap.

For the past three years, the Working Group has provided national leadership by collaborating on issues that are critical to improving conditions for First Nation, Inuit and Métis people.

The group’s priorities include increasing the graduation rates for Aboriginal students, supporting economic development in Aboriginal communities and taking action to end violence against Aboriginal women and girls.

This is not something we can accomplish by going off in our separate directions.

Success requires all of us working together.

And we need a strong and committed federal partner.

Mr. Speaker, that is why I am urging the federal government to join our Working Group and contribute to these very important discussions.

Take, for example, one of the more troubling issues — the rate of violence against Aboriginal women and girls.

Across Canada, the rate of violence against Aboriginal women is triple that of non-Aboriginal women.

Aboriginal women make up only three per cent of the female population.

Yet murdered Aboriginal women represent 10 per cent of female homicides in Canada.

Here in Ontario, our government works with the Aboriginal community on many initiatives to help victims of violence and to help prevent violence from starting in the first place.

We recognize that we need to look at the root causes that affect their safety and well-being.

That is why our government established the Joint Working Group on Violence Against Aboriginal Women, which provides a forum for Ontario ministries and Aboriginal partners to work together to effectively address violence against Aboriginal women.

We are teaching children and young men that violence is not acceptable…and we are providing justice and victim support services that help individuals and communities heal.

But it is clear that we have to look at this very serious issue holistically, together with the federal government.

Mr. Speaker, addressing the pressing issues faced by Aboriginal people is an economic and social imperative.

Our well-being is interconnected.

To build a stronger Ontario and stronger Canada, we must build stronger Aboriginal communities.

Aboriginal communities represent the province’s fastest-growing potential workforce.

It is estimated that by 2036, a quarter of all workers in northern Ontario will be Aboriginal.

This is why we are working hard to increase the participation of First Nation and Métis communities in areas such as mining, forestry, and green energy.

Our government has created a number of initiatives to help Aboriginal communities prosper and benefit from economic opportunities.

The Northern Training Partnership Fund provides skills training to help Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal northern Ontarians participate in and benefit from emerging economic development opportunities like the Ring of Fire.

Through the New Relationship Fund, we provide increased economic development and skills training opportunities to help Aboriginal communities work and partner with business and governments.

And to support Métis economic development, we are providing up to $30 million over 10 years through the Métis Voyageur Development Fund.

These initiatives will provide First Nation and Métis communities with the support they need to benefit from Ontario’s economic developments.

Mr. Speaker, Aboriginal youth are the fastest growing segment of our population and an important part of Ontario’s future.

And yet, in Ontario, Aboriginal people are three times less likely than non-Aboriginal Ontarians to obtain a university degree.

Across Canada, the high school drop-out rate for Aboriginal youth is two and a half times the rate of non-Aboriginal youth.

And what is most troubling is that the gap is widening.

Mr. Speaker, we know how important an education is.

Our government has made it a priority to ensure that all children in Ontario, including Aboriginal children, have the best possible educational opportunities available to them.

I want to reinforce our government’s commitment to Aboriginal students in our provincial education system.

Our Aboriginal Education Strategy has been designed to help improve opportunities for off-reserve First Nation, Métis and Inuit students — whether they live in remote areas or urban areas.

Since the launch of the Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework, we have made system-wide change to address the needs of Aboriginal learners in the province.

And we will continue working to increase all Ontario students’ knowledge and awareness of First Nation, Métis and Inuit cultures, histories and perspectives.

I believe that the keys to the success of these initiatives lie in the development of good, collaborative relationships and mutually beneficial partnerships.

We need to work more closely together – governments, educators and Aboriginal partners – to improve the learning environment.

We are proud of our record when it comes to education in Ontario, but it is only the federal government that can resolve the disparity in funding between education on First Nation reserves and education delivered in the rest of the province.

In the most recent Speech from the Throne, our government continued to call on the federal government to work with First Nations, other Aboriginal partners and the Province to improve education outcomes for Aboriginal students.

Since 2009 – and to this day – the Working Group has repeatedly called upon the Prime Minister to convene a First Ministers’ Meeting on Aboriginal education with national Aboriginal leaders.

The federal government needs to become a better and more committed partner with Aboriginal communities in on-reserve education.

This includes providing adequate funding.

Although the federal government did provide additional funds for First Nation education in their budget last week, this is merely a first step in improving on-reserve education for Aboriginal children across Ontario and Canada.

But the disparity between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal student funding still exists.

First Nation children will still receive thousands of dollars less per student each year from the federal government than the provinces provide to non-Aboriginal students.

The cuts to the overall budget of the federal department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada make it difficult to believe that the federal government is serious about improving the quality of life for Aboriginal communities across the country.

Ottawa must correct the funding imbalances so First Nation students receive the same funding as other children.

And it must also address the state of on-reserve schools infrastructure.

Next week, when Working Group members arrive in Toronto, it will be exactly five years to the day since the federal government promised the community of Pikangikum a permanent school.

I recently visited Pikangikum, and I asked to visit their school. There is no permanent school. In fact, there’s no school in sight.

The community’s small cluster of portables showcases the urgent need for Canada to take its on-reserve responsibilities more seriously.

And now we have learned that even with this make-shift school, the year for the elementary students is in jeopardy. The state of mould in the teacherages has made it unsafe for many of the teachers to remain in the community.

The federal government must take action to ensure that no First Nation children in Canada have to experience losing a school year like the kids in Pikangikum may have to.

Mr. Speaker, like the students in Pikangikum First Nation, the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group is tired of waiting.

It’s time the federal government stepped up and eliminated the funding gap.

Half-hearted attempts at addressing the education outcomes on First Nation reserves are not enough.

We know the answer: address the disparity in funding for First Nation education.

Ontario and the Working Group are ready, willing and able to work with them.

We know what needs to be done to improve education for First Nation students and we need everyone at the table to make it happen.

Again, I look forward to welcoming my counterparts from the provinces and territories, and the leaders of the five national Aboriginal organizations.

I look forward to a productive meeting next week and progress toward a better future for Aboriginal people and all Canadians.

Thank you Mr. Speaker.

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Compendium

The fourth meeting of the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group (AAWG) will be held in Toronto on April 11, 2012.

The AAWG is comprised of provincial and territorial ministers of Aboriginal Affairs and leaders of the five national Aboriginal organizations – the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, Métis National Council, Congress of Aboriginal Peoples and the Native Women’s Association of Canada.

The Ontario Minister of Aboriginal Affairs chairs this Working Group. The federal government has attended these meetings as an observer but has declined to participate in the work of the AAWG.

The AAWG’s current priorities are:

> Increasing the graduation rates for Aboriginal students,
> Supporting economic development in Aboriginal communities, and
> Taking action to end violence against Aboriginal women and girls.