Here is a list of National Day of Action activities by region. This was current as of last night.
Check out the National Day of Action Facebook page (if you're a member) for updates as well.
Hope to see you in the crowd!
5/29/08
3.2 Million More Supporters for the National Day of Action
Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine spoke at the Canadian Labour Congress' 25th Triennial Convention in Toronto on Tuesday, May 27th. The National Chief spoke about the current situation of First Nations in Canada, the reason and context for the National Day of Action and the 7-Point Plan for progress that the AFN is issuing as a challenge to the Government of Canada.
You can view video of the National Chief's speech here.
Following the speech, the Canadian Labour Congress, on behalf of its 3.2 million members, unanimously voted to endorse the AFNs' National Day of Action. That's 3.2 million more supporters calling for a better quality of life for First Nations people and a better tomorrow for First Nations children!
You can view video of the National Chief's speech here.
Following the speech, the Canadian Labour Congress, on behalf of its 3.2 million members, unanimously voted to endorse the AFNs' National Day of Action. That's 3.2 million more supporters calling for a better quality of life for First Nations people and a better tomorrow for First Nations children!
5/20/08
National Day of Action: A Message that Should Be Heard
Excellent editorial about the National Day of Action in today's Toronto Star. Good exposure for the event and the issues in the newspaper with Canada's largest daily circulation.
Read the editorial here.
(...and don't foget to join the National Day of Action Facebook group, for all you Facebook-ers)
Read the editorial here.
(...and don't foget to join the National Day of Action Facebook group, for all you Facebook-ers)
5/17/08
Our Children, Our Future, Our Responsibility
It’s a staggering statistic: there are more First Nations children in state care today than at the height of the residential schools system. Three times as many, to be exact, or approximately 27,000 children. It is an alarming and damning marker of a system that is failing First Nations children.
The First Nations Child and Family Services (CFS) program, created and administered by the federal Department of Indian Affairs, was supposed to help reverse this trend. But Canada's Auditor General Sheila Fraser recently reported that 8,300 First Nations children are in care specifically as a result of this program.
The Auditor General’s report on this situation is required reading for anyone interested in the real problems and real solutions facing First Nations and Canada. While it focuses on child welfare, it identifies the fundamental flaw at the core of the entire broken system.
The Auditor General found that the fundamental problem with the First Nations CFS program is a complete lack of accountability by the Department that administers it.
There is no connection between the stated goals of the program – at its most basic, to keep children safe - and the resources provided to achieve those goals. As a result, First Nations child care agencies receive 22% less funding than provincial agencies.
There is no connection between areas of greatest need and where the money is actually spent. Resources are allocated based on a funding formula that is two decades old and has not been reviewed for more than ten years.
And there is no connection between reporting requirements and results. The reports the government asks for do not include any useful information about which initiatives are actually working and which are failing.
The Auditor General says: “In practice, the needs of children in care who are served by First Nations agencies vary widely. The outdated funding formula means that some children and families are not getting the services they need.”
The alarming number of First Nations children placed in care is a testament to this tragic failure. The main reason our children are apprehended is “neglect”, but this is not an indictment of First Nations parents. It is the poverty in too many of our communities that places our children at risk: overcrowded homes, crumbling schools, dangerous drinking water and the myriad manifestations of unfairness and inequality.
National Chief Phil Fontaine told media: “This is a national crisis; we need a Canada-wide solution. ... the AFN is calling for these solutions to be developed with real First Nations involvement and a timetable that reflects the crisis nature of these issues.”
It is an intolerable situation. What is truly intolerable is that this problem has metastasized across all areas of the federal government’s policies and programs for First Nations. Resources are sprinkled about with little sense of where they are needed and with no attempt to assess if initiatives are actually working to improve peoples’ lives.
The government has known about these problems for a long time, and the AFN proposed solutions in the 2005 Wen:de report and the 2006 Leadership Action Plan on First Nations Child Welfare. When the government refused to work with the Assembly, the AFN was forced to file a formal complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2007. The Auditor General’s report offers a strong argument supporting the AFN complaint. Since filing this complaint, the Human Rights Commission has called twice for mediation. Both times the AFN has accepted the recommendation but INAC officials have refused. In light of the Auditor General’s report, the National Chief has sent a letter to Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl and Health Minister Tony Clement again asking for a meeting.
The problems with the generally dysfunctional system have been flagged by many Auditors General as well as landmark studies like the 1996 final report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
The reasons for action are well-documented, and it only makes sense to act now. The World Health Organization states that every dollar invested in prevention measures saves five to seven dollars in costs of future services. The Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards reports that investments in education for First Nations students would add an additional $62 billion to the economy over the next ten years.
And yet First Nations students – the fastest growing segment of the population – receive $2,000 less for education than other Canadians students. The government remains inert and deaf to our calls for action.
This is why the AFN is calling for a second National Day of Action on May 29th.
We are calling for immediate investments to stabilize the crisis conditions that kill people, kill hope and kill opportunity. This is simply a call for fiscal fairness. We are calling for forward-looking investments in our children and our future: a stimulus package to educate and train our youth and spark our economies through partnerships and resource revenue-sharing.
And, of course, we must look beyond spending and create a new and better system that provides First Nations with the ability to make the decisions that affect their lives, to be responsible for the consequences of those decisions and to ensure First Nations governments are accountable to their people first.
Ultimately, First Nations can strengthen their people, their communities and their economies and work towards real self-sufficiency and real self-determination.
This is what the National Day of Action is about: our children, our future and our responsibility to one another as citizens of this land.
If we truly believe in fairness and justice we should all work together to ensure First Nations children are safe, healthy and able to pursue every opportunity this country provides.
Addendum for Facebook-ers:
There's now a National Day of Action Facebook group. Join here. Of course, you've gotta be a member of Facebook to join. Sign-in and sign-up - join the fun!
The First Nations Child and Family Services (CFS) program, created and administered by the federal Department of Indian Affairs, was supposed to help reverse this trend. But Canada's Auditor General Sheila Fraser recently reported that 8,300 First Nations children are in care specifically as a result of this program.
The Auditor General’s report on this situation is required reading for anyone interested in the real problems and real solutions facing First Nations and Canada. While it focuses on child welfare, it identifies the fundamental flaw at the core of the entire broken system.
The Auditor General found that the fundamental problem with the First Nations CFS program is a complete lack of accountability by the Department that administers it.
There is no connection between the stated goals of the program – at its most basic, to keep children safe - and the resources provided to achieve those goals. As a result, First Nations child care agencies receive 22% less funding than provincial agencies.
There is no connection between areas of greatest need and where the money is actually spent. Resources are allocated based on a funding formula that is two decades old and has not been reviewed for more than ten years.
And there is no connection between reporting requirements and results. The reports the government asks for do not include any useful information about which initiatives are actually working and which are failing.
The Auditor General says: “In practice, the needs of children in care who are served by First Nations agencies vary widely. The outdated funding formula means that some children and families are not getting the services they need.”
The alarming number of First Nations children placed in care is a testament to this tragic failure. The main reason our children are apprehended is “neglect”, but this is not an indictment of First Nations parents. It is the poverty in too many of our communities that places our children at risk: overcrowded homes, crumbling schools, dangerous drinking water and the myriad manifestations of unfairness and inequality.
National Chief Phil Fontaine told media: “This is a national crisis; we need a Canada-wide solution. ... the AFN is calling for these solutions to be developed with real First Nations involvement and a timetable that reflects the crisis nature of these issues.”
It is an intolerable situation. What is truly intolerable is that this problem has metastasized across all areas of the federal government’s policies and programs for First Nations. Resources are sprinkled about with little sense of where they are needed and with no attempt to assess if initiatives are actually working to improve peoples’ lives.
The government has known about these problems for a long time, and the AFN proposed solutions in the 2005 Wen:de report and the 2006 Leadership Action Plan on First Nations Child Welfare. When the government refused to work with the Assembly, the AFN was forced to file a formal complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in 2007. The Auditor General’s report offers a strong argument supporting the AFN complaint. Since filing this complaint, the Human Rights Commission has called twice for mediation. Both times the AFN has accepted the recommendation but INAC officials have refused. In light of the Auditor General’s report, the National Chief has sent a letter to Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl and Health Minister Tony Clement again asking for a meeting.
The problems with the generally dysfunctional system have been flagged by many Auditors General as well as landmark studies like the 1996 final report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.
The reasons for action are well-documented, and it only makes sense to act now. The World Health Organization states that every dollar invested in prevention measures saves five to seven dollars in costs of future services. The Canadian Centre for the Study of Living Standards reports that investments in education for First Nations students would add an additional $62 billion to the economy over the next ten years.
And yet First Nations students – the fastest growing segment of the population – receive $2,000 less for education than other Canadians students. The government remains inert and deaf to our calls for action.
This is why the AFN is calling for a second National Day of Action on May 29th.
We are calling for immediate investments to stabilize the crisis conditions that kill people, kill hope and kill opportunity. This is simply a call for fiscal fairness. We are calling for forward-looking investments in our children and our future: a stimulus package to educate and train our youth and spark our economies through partnerships and resource revenue-sharing.
And, of course, we must look beyond spending and create a new and better system that provides First Nations with the ability to make the decisions that affect their lives, to be responsible for the consequences of those decisions and to ensure First Nations governments are accountable to their people first.
Ultimately, First Nations can strengthen their people, their communities and their economies and work towards real self-sufficiency and real self-determination.
This is what the National Day of Action is about: our children, our future and our responsibility to one another as citizens of this land.
If we truly believe in fairness and justice we should all work together to ensure First Nations children are safe, healthy and able to pursue every opportunity this country provides.
Addendum for Facebook-ers:
There's now a National Day of Action Facebook group. Join here. Of course, you've gotta be a member of Facebook to join. Sign-in and sign-up - join the fun!
4/24/08
Fixing the Education Gap
Okay, I/we can argue with a few points here and there but overall this is a great column! Required reading, says I, your humble scribe.
The AFN’s been raising this issue for a while now.
As Ivision points out, in spite of myths to the contrary, First Nations students receive $2,000 less in educational support than other Canadian students:
“…Simple fairness dictates that those most in need of the investment in quality education should receive the same level of funding as other Canadians. Yet the government's own figures suggest this is not the case.
According to INAC's own numbers, it spent $6,916 per native student across Canada in 2006/07. This compares with a national average of $8,165 for non-natives in 2004/05, according to Statistics Canada.”
Education is the key to unlocking the full potential of our people, our communities and Canada. We are the workforce of tomorrow. The AFN is calling for a greater investment in education because, simply, it’s an investment in our future. It’s good for all Canadians.
This is a bigger problem than just education. It’s true that “more funding” is not the answer to all our concerns - what we really need is a new system that puts First Nations in control of the decisions that affect their lives – but the fact is that since 1996 the federal government has capped funding for core services to First Nations governments at a meager 2% increase per year. You don’t need a calculator to realize that this does not keep pace with inflation or our growing, booming population. The result is First Nations governments are forced to try and do more and more with less and less every year.
What’s equally concerning is that, aside from education shortfalls, we have communities that have to make intolerable choices about building more houses OR making repairs to a crumbling school OR ensuring the drinking water is clean OR economic development etc. etc. These are choices no community should have to make in a country as rich as Canada.
So it’s really disheartening to hear people say that no more resources should be provided to First Nations right now while we tinker with funding formulas and such, because people are literally dying for help in our communities. Right now.
True, resources are not the whole answer but let’s stop the crisis and stabilize the situation so we can spark and grow First Nations economies and self-sufficiency.
The AFN’s been raising this issue for a while now.
As Ivision points out, in spite of myths to the contrary, First Nations students receive $2,000 less in educational support than other Canadian students:
“…Simple fairness dictates that those most in need of the investment in quality education should receive the same level of funding as other Canadians. Yet the government's own figures suggest this is not the case.
According to INAC's own numbers, it spent $6,916 per native student across Canada in 2006/07. This compares with a national average of $8,165 for non-natives in 2004/05, according to Statistics Canada.”
Education is the key to unlocking the full potential of our people, our communities and Canada. We are the workforce of tomorrow. The AFN is calling for a greater investment in education because, simply, it’s an investment in our future. It’s good for all Canadians.
This is a bigger problem than just education. It’s true that “more funding” is not the answer to all our concerns - what we really need is a new system that puts First Nations in control of the decisions that affect their lives – but the fact is that since 1996 the federal government has capped funding for core services to First Nations governments at a meager 2% increase per year. You don’t need a calculator to realize that this does not keep pace with inflation or our growing, booming population. The result is First Nations governments are forced to try and do more and more with less and less every year.
What’s equally concerning is that, aside from education shortfalls, we have communities that have to make intolerable choices about building more houses OR making repairs to a crumbling school OR ensuring the drinking water is clean OR economic development etc. etc. These are choices no community should have to make in a country as rich as Canada.
So it’s really disheartening to hear people say that no more resources should be provided to First Nations right now while we tinker with funding formulas and such, because people are literally dying for help in our communities. Right now.
True, resources are not the whole answer but let’s stop the crisis and stabilize the situation so we can spark and grow First Nations economies and self-sufficiency.
4/19/08
National Day of Action, Take Two: Calling on All Canadians!
National Chief Phil Fontaine held a news conference here in Ottawa on Thursday (April 18) to announce the second National Day of Action to be held May 29th. The National Chief, joined by national religious, labour and student organizations, urged all Canadians to come out and show their support in calling on the federal government to work with First Nations on a positive and progressive agenda for change. Ultimately, we want to turn poverty into prosperity and we have the plan.
The National Chief is calling for peaceful demonstrations by all Canadians, though the media (of course!) has latched on to other aspects of the announcement. As have other First Nations, including some that support the 2010 Olympic Games.
It’s important to note that the National Chief never referred to “disrupting” the Games (and note further that in July the AFN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Four Host Nations to work with the organizing committee on the games). Rather, the Olympic Games shine an international spotlight on the host nation and this spotlight can be used to show the international audience and the international media the reality faced by First Nations people in Canada. Peaceful protest is not lawlessness, it’s democracy.
Anyway, the focus right now is on May 29th of this year, not 2010. Though if we’re still calling for government action by 2010, well, no doubt the Natives will really be restless!
Special added bonus blurb!: Media at the press conference were also interested in the hoped-for-soon-to-be-much-anticipated announcement on the federal government’s apology to residential schools’ survivors. The National Chief made a few notable points that you may want to checkout here.
The National Chief is calling for peaceful demonstrations by all Canadians, though the media (of course!) has latched on to other aspects of the announcement. As have other First Nations, including some that support the 2010 Olympic Games.
It’s important to note that the National Chief never referred to “disrupting” the Games (and note further that in July the AFN signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Four Host Nations to work with the organizing committee on the games). Rather, the Olympic Games shine an international spotlight on the host nation and this spotlight can be used to show the international audience and the international media the reality faced by First Nations people in Canada. Peaceful protest is not lawlessness, it’s democracy.
Anyway, the focus right now is on May 29th of this year, not 2010. Though if we’re still calling for government action by 2010, well, no doubt the Natives will really be restless!
Special added bonus blurb!: Media at the press conference were also interested in the hoped-for-soon-to-be-much-anticipated announcement on the federal government’s apology to residential schools’ survivors. The National Chief made a few notable points that you may want to checkout here.
3/20/08
Long Weekend Roundup
Some items of interest for inquiring minds.
The situation at Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation in Ontario (formerly known as Big Trout Lake) is causing quite a stir.
You may have read about it: six members of the First Nation, including the Chief and Deputy Chief, were sentenced to six months in jail for trying to prevent mining exploration company Platinex from drilling in their traditional territory.
Reaction from First Nations and supporters has been particularly strong, including a general backlash against mining in the region. Even the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada calls the situation “sad and disappointing,” and is urging an “amicable, mutually beneficial negotiated resolution.”
The Assembly of First Nations agrees.
There’s a very good Globe and Mail op-ed assessing the situation, but unfortunately it’s behind a subscriber wall. Suffice to say that the question in the title of the article – “Are the KI Six outlaws or prisoners of conscience?” - is not answered explicitly, but the implicit answer is: prisoners of conscience. The only drawback to this analysis is that it neglects to mention that the federal government has the primary responsibility to ensure there is proper, adequate consultation and has a central role as a broker in these processes.
Another interesting news story deals with Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant decrying the lack of investment by the federal government in First Nations. The federal government responds by saying it’s not just about more money, it’s about better spending.
You know what? They’re both right. Clearly more investment is needed because too many First Nation communities simply aren’t safe – there’s dangerous drinking water, unsafe and over-crowded housing, collapsing schools, inadequate funding for health needs and on and on. We need to move quickly to deal with this situation and it will involve equality of funding for First Nations. But yes, we also need to bring some sense to broken system and bureaucracy plagued by duplication, overlap and over-reporting that is not focused on whether or not quality and appropriately funded programs, services and initiatives are actually reaching and benefiting our communities.
Because while the KI story rightfully continues to be a focus of media coverage, tragic stories like this – which touch at the same core issues of Treaty rights, obligations and responsibilities - wrongfully tend to disappear from the front pages all too quickly.
If all levels of government – and all Canadians – understand this reality, we can indeed work towards amicable, mutually beneficial solutions.
The situation at Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug (KI) First Nation in Ontario (formerly known as Big Trout Lake) is causing quite a stir.
You may have read about it: six members of the First Nation, including the Chief and Deputy Chief, were sentenced to six months in jail for trying to prevent mining exploration company Platinex from drilling in their traditional territory.
Reaction from First Nations and supporters has been particularly strong, including a general backlash against mining in the region. Even the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada calls the situation “sad and disappointing,” and is urging an “amicable, mutually beneficial negotiated resolution.”
The Assembly of First Nations agrees.
There’s a very good Globe and Mail op-ed assessing the situation, but unfortunately it’s behind a subscriber wall. Suffice to say that the question in the title of the article – “Are the KI Six outlaws or prisoners of conscience?” - is not answered explicitly, but the implicit answer is: prisoners of conscience. The only drawback to this analysis is that it neglects to mention that the federal government has the primary responsibility to ensure there is proper, adequate consultation and has a central role as a broker in these processes.
Another interesting news story deals with Ontario Aboriginal Affairs Minister Michael Bryant decrying the lack of investment by the federal government in First Nations. The federal government responds by saying it’s not just about more money, it’s about better spending.
You know what? They’re both right. Clearly more investment is needed because too many First Nation communities simply aren’t safe – there’s dangerous drinking water, unsafe and over-crowded housing, collapsing schools, inadequate funding for health needs and on and on. We need to move quickly to deal with this situation and it will involve equality of funding for First Nations. But yes, we also need to bring some sense to broken system and bureaucracy plagued by duplication, overlap and over-reporting that is not focused on whether or not quality and appropriately funded programs, services and initiatives are actually reaching and benefiting our communities.
Because while the KI story rightfully continues to be a focus of media coverage, tragic stories like this – which touch at the same core issues of Treaty rights, obligations and responsibilities - wrongfully tend to disappear from the front pages all too quickly.
If all levels of government – and all Canadians – understand this reality, we can indeed work towards amicable, mutually beneficial solutions.
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