Aboriginal education act a regression to 1950s

The federal government this week posted on the Aboriginal Affairs website a draft copy of its proposed education act for First Nations.

It’s only a draft that’s designed to gauge First Nations’ response, but even a cursory look shows that it’s riddled with problems. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt calls the act revolutionary, but I would call it reactionary. It takes us right back to the 1950s, when the former Department of Indian Affairs ran the education program.

The bill is titled Working Together for First Nations Students, but it does nothing of the sort. It’s an old fashioned, top-down colonial approach that was supposed to have been put to bed 40 years ago with the adoption of the First Nations policy of Indian control of Indian Education.

Right off the hop, this bill is unacceptable. To receive funding, a First Nation’s school must be incorporated under provincial or federal legislation. This is a failure to recognize First Nations’ jurisdiction, and it places outside jurisdiction on a reserve — a practice that has been rejected for years. Either the government failed to recognize this or it wishes to weaken First Nations’ control.

Nowhere does the legislation recognize the jurisdiction of First Nations or their ability to implement their own corporations branch and incorporate their own institutions. The legislation allows for by laws, as did the old Indian Act, but it fails to recognize the need of First Nations to develop their own education act.

We need enabling legislation that recognizes our jurisdiction, not some topdown law that has the heavy hand of the colonial office all over it. Section 35 lists 15 areas where the minister may make regulations, including budgeting, hiring staff, education committees, tuition agreements, insurance, maintenance records, and so on.

School boards with real power are not mentioned, in favour of school committees with narrow guidelines that will be defined through regulations from the colonial office. For example, the director of education can’t be a member of the band council.

In the past, for many First Nations the band councillor with the education portfolio would also be the director of education. This was the decision of the First Nation, and allowed the band council and school staff to work together. Under the new system, the education program would be separate from the band council and create confusion and a “silo” approach to education. Silos are defined as independent programs that operate in isolation to others.

The bill is silent on funding levels. While no specific numbers were expected, the government could have stated that it would provide funding on par with provincial grant allocations for students in their jurisdiction. Instead the access to education will be narrowed even more.

Off-reserve band members either will have to get their tuition paid for by the province, or their family is required to pay. Because of poor housing and living conditions on reserves, many of our people have moved to nearby towns. In the past they could send their children to the reserve school, but now it becomes a serious problem.

In fact, the whole tone of this exercise is to blame the First Nations students and parents for the poor outcomes from First Nations education rather than admit that our programs are woefully underfunded, with a First Nations student on average allotted 65 per cent of what a student in the provincial system receives.

Strangely, Section 37 states that the minister has all the powers and functions of a responsible authority under this act, but section 32 states that neither Her Majesty nor the minister are liable for anything done or omitted to be done and so on under the act.

In true colonial fashion, our people once again have all the responsibility but none of the authority.

This legislation should have been jointly developed by First Nations leaders and the government, not by the gnomes in the colonial office. Those days should be behind us. Someone has to tell the minster and the colonial office that the sun has set on the British Empire.

The government should have taken this opportunity to draw from First Nations’ resources. The talent and commitment to education is strong in Indian country. For instance, Assembly of First Nations National Chief Shawn Atleo has a master’s degree in education and was chancellor of the Vancouver Island University in British Columbia.

I foresee the government trying to spin this act as in our best interests and the opposition characterizing it as self-serving and anti education. The government can use its majority to ram this through Parliament, but the legislation is badly flawed and will not be welcome in Indian Country.

I also see the government running right into a wall of resistance. This will bring Idle No More out into the streets. First Nations may well decide to turn over the flawed system for the colonial office to run, which would be a disaster for the government. It would be right back in the 1950s, running Indian education.

This piece of legislation is a turkey. It won’t fly.