Thanks very much for the opportunity to join you, sir, and your colleagues.
Speaking on behalf of the Ministry of Advanced Education, Employment and Labour, and certainly on behalf of the Government of Saskatchewan, I appreciate this opportunity to appear before the standing committee to discuss First Nations University and, more broadly, issues pertaining to post-secondary educational endeavours for first nations and Métis students within the province of Saskatchewan.
I am joined here today by a number of officials, but I think what I'll do is jump directly into the body of my remarks.
We know the significance of post-secondary education for first nations and Métis students, as well as for others within the province of Saskatchewan. We're pleased that we have more than 13,000 first nations and Métis students participating in a range of post-secondary programs across our province. Those attending the First Nations University of Canada would come in at just under 1,000.
This is certainly not to detract from the significance of those students, but it is to put it in a broader context. The significance of this context, quite simply, is that we have a variety of models and, quite frankly again, there is enough work for everyone on this very important public policy issue.
Having noted the context, I'll speak directly to some of the evolution of First Nations University over the last five years. Over the course of the last five years, there has been an ebb and flow of controversy. As we came into office in late 2007, I was brought up to speed quickly on some of the key elements of those controversies.
By the summer of 2008, officials within First Nations University had approached me. The message was clear: there was a financial crisis at First Nations University. In addition to the millions of dollars that the province had already given as part of our routine budgeting, we found an additional $2 million: $1.1 million to take care of an outstanding collective bargaining agreement that had been in existence since 2005, then $500,000 for increased operational spending and $400,000 for a blueprint. That took the form of the Hanselmann-Standing report. Not unlike a previous report, the All Chiefs' report from 2005, this blueprint laid out a plan for progress.
Instead of seeing the progress that we had agreed to, there was a period of backsliding, and as we've seen over the course of the last year or so, a vice-president has been fired, CAUT has put a censure on this institution, a CFO has been fired, and along with that firing came allegations of misspending in the forms of trips, excessive compensation packages, as well as a variety of other problems. We had delays on another report that was commissioned, by Dr. Begay, and more recently we've come to discover that there are a number of questions outstanding regarding restricted funds, those pertaining to scholarships.
In early February, after much prompting and prodding, we can say that we sent a clear message, and that was that the Government of Saskatchewan had lost confidence in the direction of First Nations University. We made some very public, important comments that I think hold true today. We would not renew funding for First Nations University. We said that a path forward for the students and for others would be through a partnership, and that partnership could be with any relevant post-secondary educational institution in the province of Saskatchewan. We said we would put an emphasis on student success because, after all, this is vitally important not just for Saskatchewan but for all Canadians, and we made a clear point that we wanted and expected federal dollars, those federal dollars that were also removed from this file in the days following our decision. We expect those dollars to stay in Saskatchewan.
We also met with Chief Guy Lonechild. I want to applaud Chief Lonechild for his efforts. Under his leadership, he's been able to reinvigorate a reform process within this institution. Work began through a working group that has gone on for more than six weeks.
Today, obviously, you've heard and we're pleased to report that there is an umbrella agreement, an MOU that has been signed, which I think ensures that we have a blueprint for the future. It ensures greater certainty for students, greater accountability for taxpayers, and under specific conditions will ensure that provincial dollars can flow, investing in that partnership. Again, our goals are to ensure that the students, upon whom we put such great value, can continue in their studies. But we also want to make sure that there's increased accountability for the taxpayers of this province.
I want to say that all the way along I've been able to have a very respectful, frank, but friendly relationship that has been established with Minister Chuck Strahl. At this stage, certainly after ongoing dialogue, I would like not just to provide an update regarding the MOU but to say clearly—with respect, with all sincerity, but with great seriousness—that we would like the federal government to keep these federal dollars in Saskatchewan by investing in the partnership that has been established and signed today. We think this partnership, while far from perfect—and certainly we are attentive to the fact that there are many steps yet to take, with conditions that have to be met—offers an opportunity to help give greater certainty to our students and greater accountability to the taxpayers of this province.
Thank you, sir.