‘The clock is ticking’
Mi’kmaq education organization in jeopardy
The future of education in Nova Scotia’s First Nations communities could be in jeopardy if a funding agreement can’t be reached with the federal government.
Eleanor Bernard is executive director of Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, a Membertoubased organization that provides education funding to 12 of the province’s 13 Mi’kmaq communities, including all five Cape Breton bands.
She said although they have tripled high school graduation rates since forming in 1998, the organization hasn’t been able to secure a new financial agreement with Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada after more than three years of negotiations. If a deal can’t be reached by Oct. 31, there is no guaranteed funding in place beyond April 1, 2018, meaning Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey may have to close its doors.
“In that event, how are we going to continue?” asked Bernard, who has been executive director for the past 15 years.
“We’re very successful as an organization — our First Nation communities are graduating students at approximately 89 per cent — that’s equivalent to the provincial graduation rate — and because of all this success we need additional funding for post-secondary education.
“If there’s no additions for us, then the organization is going to be gone because other communities will say ‘What’s the point of being part of a selfgoverning agreement if we’re not going to be part of this new funding.’”
Bernard said a key issue is access to billions of dollars the federal government pledged to help First Nations communities across the country.
This year’s budget added $3.4 billion over five years for areas of “critical need,” including $219 million for education and skills training over the next five years.
Of that, $90 million is slotted for a post-secondary student support program that would help more than 4,600 First Nations and Inuit students over the next two years.
However, Bernard said they’ve been told self-government agreements, like the one that led to the creation of Mi’kmaw Kina’matnewey, aren’t included in that funding.
While many communities can help pay tuition for postsecondary students, some places like Eskasoni and Chapel Island can’t keep up with vastly increased numbers of high school graduates, due in large part to the addition of new schools in those communities.
“How are you going to improve the social-economic status of communities if students are not getting any further training after graduation? The spinoffs of funding postsecondary education — and I’m including Nova Scotia Community College-type training or trades training — if you’re not getting additional funding in that area, a lot of people are not going to be able to go to school,” she said.
Bernard is also concerned that a shakeup at Indigenous Affairs could delay talks.
On Monday, Jane Philpott took on a new portfolio to work alongside former minister Carolyn Bennett, whose title is now minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs.
“That’s going to slow down our negotiations and we have to come up with an agreement by the end of October,” said Bernard.
“It is very frustrating.
The frustration is the government and the no response.
They just keep telling us it’s good, things are good, but they’re not responding to anything we’re saying and time is running out. The clock is ticking.”