Following the presentation of the federal budget, the first nations of Quebec also expressed a major concern about the underfunding of education. Sums invested by the government do not tally with the needs or the gaps identified in several studies. Moreover, nothing is provided for ending the chronic underfunding of first nations education, except for specific measures that are clearly insufficient, and which were elaborated, once again, without consultation. The schools of the first nations have no reason whatsoever to rejoice, especially since the gap that separates them from the other schools in Canada is only bound to widen. The government is doing nothing to allow us to close the gap that affects our institutions and our children. Our schools are trying to survive with a funding formula that has not changed for 20 years. It is exactly as if the Quebec schools were financed as they were in 1980! It is scandalous.
Although the federal government made an announcement of $268 million over a five-year period for all of the first nations schools in Canada, it should be noted that the sums are conditional on specific criteria, and that schools must submit project proposals in order to have access to them. There is no provincial government whatsoever that would dare require from their schools that they submit a lot of small initiatives in order to have access to their financing. Yet, this is how the Department of Indian Affairs administers the education of the first nations.
According to an analysis on financing carried out by the First Nations Education Council, a loss in real monetary value of $28.1 million will be brought about by not taking into account the increase in the cost of living and the number of students, solely for the region of Quebec and for the year 2009-2010. In Canada, this loss is assessed at $267.3 million. This has been going on since 1996. It has now become unbearable for our communities to support such a lack of funding. We have to cut somewhere else to try and provide a modest education to our children, which is unacceptable for a society that claims to be fair and modern.
This drop in education funding is only one example of a situation which persists since the federal government imposed a limit of 2% in regards to expenses of Indian government programs, and this since 1996.
We also wish to remind you that the community of Kitcisakik is a small Algonquian community that is still dreaming of running water and electricity. The community is still awaiting a response from the federal government.
To conclude, I wish to draw your attention to the will of first nations to develop, and to the necessity for the government to support our economic development in an active way. We are asking you to help us help ourselves, as you did on various occasions for other private or public organizations in the past. We are asking you to not apply a policy of negation towards our nations; we can become partners and succeed. This is the will and hope that we entertain, in spite of these hard times for everybody.
Thank you. Meegwetch.