Indigenous and Northern Affairs Committee on Feb. 26th, 2009

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Will you do that?

[Christine Cram]

We can do that, yes.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

But are you going to do it?

[Christine Cram]

Yes, we will.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Thank you.

[Christine Cram]

Could I just add something? As regards Aboriginal training, we have noted that it works better if the institutions are close to the areas where they reside.

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

Yes, that's perfectly normal.

[Christine Cram]

But it does present a challenge. We have to find ways of providing post-secondary education near—

[Mauril Bélanger, Liberal, Ottawa—Vanier, ON]

The Francophone communities faced exactly the same challenge. One of the components of the program was that they had to do their internship in their home community. Requirements can always be added to the program with a view to encouraging people who have received professional training outside their community to return there.

This program has yielded excellent results for Francophone communities outside Quebec. I encourage you to look at it, to see whether you could use this same model or adapt it to the Aboriginal communities.

Thank you.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

You may respond if you wish.

[Christine Cram]

Thank you very much for that suggestion. We will look at it.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Excellent.

Merci, monsieur Bélanger.

We'll go to Mr. Albrecht for five minutes, and then to Mr. Lemay.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

Thank you, Mr. Chair

Thanks to our witnesses for being here today.

A number of times today we have referred to the report that this committee did in 2006. Certainly I recall being part of that committee study, and I think a lot of good recommendations came from it. I want to remind the committee, however, that the government did table a response to that report.

There are some key elements we're missing in terms of response. Mr. Bélanger mentioned the different envelopes that are available. Mr. Duncan referred to the incomplete picture if we look at just INAC funding.

I just want to read a couple of paragraphs from that report for the committee, because some of us are new here.

It reads:

The Government believes that a concept of shared responsibility must apply in providing support for Aboriginal post-secondary education and that this entails exploring the range of resources available from public, institutional, non-profit and private sector sources. Thus a learner might seek funding not only from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's post-secondary education programs but also from the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP), the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, the Millennium Scholarships and private scholarships, as well as from personal and family sources. Likewise, a program of Aboriginal studies might simultaneously receive support from an Indian and Northern Affairs Canada program, operate within a provincially funded institution and be sponsored by a not-for-profit foundation

It goes on:

At the same time, the Government recognizes that it is essential to continuously monitor and reassess ongoing federal programs. Issues of funding for post-secondary education will be considered as part of the required review of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's education programs. However, this must be done in the context of measuring outcomes, evaluating the effectiveness of programs, and exploring alternative models.

I know that seems like a long introduction, but I think it gets to the heart of the oversimplicity of thinking that we can increase the envelope of the 2% cap that's currently here and suddenly all of our problems will disappear. I think it's essential that ongoing monitoring and evaluation of our educational programs is done, because that not only benefits taxpayers in Canada, but in the end it benefits all first nations people, especially students who are wanting to access this program. The more efficiently those dollars are used, the more students will benefit from it. So I want to get that on the record.

If I still have some time left, I would like you to expand a little bit on the two new programs that you mentioned in your opening remarks. If I have them correctly, these programs are the first nation student success program and the education partnerships program. There are significant funds being invested in those over the next five years. Could you expand a bit on those for us? For us as new committee members, I think it would be beneficial.

[Neil Yeates]

Certainly, Chair.

Both of the programs were part of budget 2008, as we've noted. They are proposal-based programs. We issued the call for those proposals late in 2008. They just closed 10 days ago, actually, so we're in the review process for those programs and we'll see where we go from there.

But I'll ask Ms. Cram to explain a little more in terms of the intent of each one of those programs.

[Christine Cram]

Thank you very much.

The student success program, the first element, is really focused on trying to improve student outcomes. It can have a range of things, but it involves such things as student testing, student success plans, and school success plans, all aimed at improving student success.

The second aspect is the education partnerships program. That involves tripartite partnerships between provinces and territories, the Government of Canada, and first nation groups. That is aimed at trying to take advantage of all the assets that everybody has to bring to the table and try to improve educational outcomes.

I'd just like to identify for the committee that 40% of children who are normally resident on-reserve attend public schools. So in our view, it's not just enough to improve on-reserve schools; we also have to be looking at how we improve education programs for aboriginal students and educational outcomes for aboriginal students off-reserve. That of course requires very close partnerships with provincial and territorial governments.

[Harold Albrecht, Conservative, Kitchener—Conestoga, ON]

In regard to the $22 million that goes to the aboriginal institutions, is the program here in Ottawa--Nunavut Sivuniksavut or something like that--part of that program? Would it be under that program?

[Christopher Duchesnes, Executive Director, Inuit Relations Secreteriat, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development]

At the moment, no, they do not receive any.

[The Chair, Conservative, Bruce Stanton]

Thank you, Mr. Albrecht.

Monsieur Lemay, cinq minutes.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

I, too, would like to put a few questions to Ms. Cram, since we seem to be on the right track.

Are you aware that, in many communities, individuals wanting to pursue their studies at the post-secondary level, either at a college, CEGEP or university, are very often single parents? Has any provision been made for that? Is that taken into consideration when it comes to making educational assistance available to students? As a general rule, or about 90 per cent of the time, these are women with children, whatever area of study may be involved, whether it is nursing or education. Is that reality taken into consideration? Are there any special measures in place to help these women, particularly those with children, to pursue their studies?

[Christine Cram]

Thank you very much, Mr. Lemay.

At the present time, 70 per cent of the students registered in our program are women. As you stated, many of them are single parents. The funding that we are able to provide does include support for these women and their families.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Do you not think it might also be a good idea to help these institutions smooth the way and support these women, given that they represent 70 per cent of their client base? I am pleased to hear that number. In my area, we noted that there were a lot of women. Would it not be appropriate to increase the $22 million allocated to the institutions so that they can provide better support to these women? As a general rule, they need decent housing, equipment and day care. Can those needs be covered with the $22 million allocated to institutions?

[Christine Cram]

The total budget is $314 million. If you allocate more than $22 million to that activity, you would have to deduct that amount from the total budget, which means less support for students. So—

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

Pardon me for interrupting, but it is important that you clarify one thing. Is the total amount of $314 million, not counting the $22 million, paid out directly to students?

[Christine Cram]

No. As Mr. Yeates was explaining, that money is distributed to various aboriginal organizations, such as bands and tribal councils. There are different ways of distributing the money. Outside of the $22 million amount, funding provided indirectly for students goes through the band councils and other organizations.

[Marc Lemay, Bloc, Abitibi—Témiscamingue, QC]

As you were explaining earlier, the band councils decide whether it is important to invest that money in medicine or education.