editorial- Native School Funding

[YZT580]

To demand accountability in spending within First Nations is nothing more than demanding First Nations meet standards already in place globally.  The demand is comming from First Nations people as well. 
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When all is said and done isn't that the final statement.  Nothing will change, sadly, until the First Nations themselves tell their leaders to "invest here in our children".  The transfer funds are sufficient to build decent schools.  It should be possible to entice competent teachers to move to the area and staff them (might require a change in property ownership policies to encourage them to live in the community).  But nothing will be done until the leadership quits making excuses and blaming history, Christopher Columbus and Samuel Champlain for their own failures.  Driving across Canada I have passed through numerous prosperous reserve areas.  Investigation (coffee, hamburg and conversation) always reveals good leadership and proud citizens. 

 

[KMJAB]

To clarify,

I never said that Indian bands are immune to the laws of the land. I simply pointed out that much of the money going to reserves is under Indian control and should be.

There is increasing demand from within these reserves for better accountability. That is what I think will be the key to the solution. It is not a case of non-natives telling the bands how to run, but the members of the bands demanding it and achieving it themselves. There may be a case for offering services to help this process along, such as leadership education and auditing services to name a couple. The key however, is to create self-sustaining communities that one day, thrive on the strength of their people. If band politics get in the way, they must be overcome from within by determination and the will of those living on reserve.

As for the human rights act and accountability act, those are serious problems facing reserves today. The sooner that they are either accepted or an equivalent set of laws are created to address reserves, there remains a great vacuum. I refer back again though, that a main reason this vacuum exists is the lost trust in Canadian law from the past. I suspect (as a good middle of the road Canadian) that the answer will lie in reserves having their own set of checks and balances developed internally that, when needed, refer or rely on external standards and institutions.

Hopefully our leaders (I include Indian leaders in this) can resolve these matters quickly and wisely. I think the most important thing us peons can do is to become aware of the issue, and hold a flame to the feet of those leaders. The present native generation deserves and needs better developmental focus and educational services so that the mistakes of the past might be exchanged for success in the future for all Canadians.

As Churchill said, "Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all those other forms that have been tried from time to time."

I have pretty much said my piece now. I am heartened to see people looking and thinking about this issue. Far too often we simply ignore it because reserves are out of sight and we forget that the problems facing the Indian population dwarf any other facing any group of Canadians both in scope and scale.

 

[UberCree]

The transfer funds are sufficient to build decent schools.  It should be possible to entice competent teachers to move to the area and staff them (might require a change in property ownership policies to encourage them to live in the community). 

The funds are far from enough to build schools.

In spite of all the rhetoric claiming First Nations people in Canada are sucking up huge amounts of money from the public coffers - after all is said and done the amount that actually reaches the communities equals roughly $16,000 per person.  That $16,000 covers policing, health, infrastructure - water sewer, education, social assistance, economic development etc. 
There are school divisions that spend close to that amount per pupil strictly on education alone. 

The fiscal imbalance Stephen Harper and Preston Manning expounded upon to launch the Reform Party is alive and well in First Nations communities.  Theirs is the latest party to support the imbalance.

 

[YZT580]

16,000 per man, woman and child FREE!  You really need to go after your leaders, the Ontario government spends less than 1000 per person.  It appears like there is some severe accountability owed to each and every one of you.  The biggest problem with the way in which relations between the First Nations and the ROTC have evolved is that government policy has produced a culture of entitlement and that is not good for morale, pride, self-esteem or productivity plus it encourages theft by those who can.  Good luck with trying to take back your lives, I will cheer you on in any way possible.  16000 and leaky roofs, no sewage and no schools to show for it.  That is obscene