Thank you, and good morning to you all.
As has been said, my name is Mary Polak. I am British Colombia's Minister of Children and Family Development and Minister Responsible for Child Care.
I want to say I'm very honoured to be here today to make this presentation to the standing committee and to carry forward what I think are some very important words from not only the Province of British Columbia but also from its first citizens.
British Columbia is a province that is shaped and enriched by the presence, the words, and the wisdom of our first nations. We pride ourselves on being a land of wealth and opportunity, but we know this opportunity does not extend to everyone. It has its limits, and those limits are too often defined by the lines that separate reserve land.
We can never right the wrongs of the past, but we stand united in our commitment to establishing a new relationship with first nations, one rooted firmly in respect, recognition, and reconciliation. We are committed to supporting first nations as they strive to create better, stronger, healthier futures for their children and their youth.
British Columbia is home to the second-largest aboriginal population in the country, fully 5% of our province's total population, and that rate is growing at almost three times the rate of non-aboriginal peoples. Almost 40% of that population is under the age of 19. Our province includes 203 first nations communities--one-third of all first nations communities across Canada--and about 38% of those live on reserve. These communities differ greatly from those of our prairie neighbours, not just in numbers but, importantly, in size, the communities averaging fewer than 300 people on reserve.
In addition, many of our first nations communities, while possessed of extraordinary beauty, are isolated and remote, and that's an environment that adds to the challenge of accessing adequate resources and support for their people, particularly those who are most vulnerable.
We are, as a province, faced with unique challenges. We know that a one-size-fits-all approach simply will not work for our first nations. We are committed to working together with our federal and first nations partners to find the kinds of unique solutions needed in British Columbia, both now and for the long term.
I'm proud of some of the successes our province has seen in forging a new relationship with our first nations and aboriginal people. That path has not always been smooth and we are, in many respects, still finding our way, but we have continued to move forward. November 2005 saw a big step forward with the creation of the Transformative Change Accord, signed by the Government of Canada, British Columbia, and the First Nations Leadership Council, representing all 203 first nations in British Columbia. The accord, which still guides us today, aims to close the socio-economic gaps between first nations in British Columbia and other British Columbians by 2015, by focusing on key areas, including health, education, housing and infrastructure, economic conditions, and the relationship between aboriginal people and the crown.
It was and is an ambitious plan, and real progress has been made in achieving the goals laid out within it. Perhaps more than anything the accord has strengthened our partnership with first nations leaders and paved the way to a more focused approach to addressing social and economic gaps.
We have moved forward. Achievements have been realized in negotiating health and education agreements, including first nations education jurisdiction agreements, which lay the groundwork for first nations decision-making about the K to 12 education of their children on reserve. The tripartite first nations health plan and proposed first nations health authority sets the stage for the transfer of federal first nations health programs to B.C. first nations. So, yes, we have moved forward, but we have a long way still to go.
That is why I'm here today. In the last 20 years, B.C. first nations have been working hard to develop their own child and family services agencies, and in the past decade governments and ministries have come a long way in recognizing the authority and jurisdiction of first nations over their own communities and their own people, specifically their own children.
We've come a long way from the colonial mentality that resulted in the devastation wrought by residential schools and the sixties scoop. We recognize that while residential schools closed in the 1980s, their devastating effects are ongoing and intergenerational, profoundly affecting the children of today. For these children, historically overrepresented in our province's child welfare system and underrepresented in our colleges and universities, we can and must do better.
I come to you to speak about not only the unique challenges that must be addressed to truly support B.C.'s aboriginal children and youth, but most importantly the ways in which we must continue to work together to address these challenges and move forward.
We are presently involved with more than 100 first nations communities, as well as many urban and Métis communities, each of which is working to develop child and family service approaches based on its unique indigenous identity that will better serve the children and families in its community. For example, I recently participated in the signing of a partnership memorandum that brought together for the first time the first nations communities of the Stikine to design and develop their own model of care for their children.
As a ministry, we have committed to respecting and upholding the first nations right to jurisdiction over their children and families, and thus to services that support their children. We fully support Jordan's Principle and are committed to its implementation. We know that aboriginal children and youth make up more than half of all children in care, and we know that real, long-term, effective solutions lie with first nations themselves, with adequate resources from respective governments.
B.C.'s initial first-nations-delegated agency was established in 1986 under the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations Tribal Council. We now have 24 delegated agencies throughout our province, and others are actively working toward delegation.
As you are aware, the model of funding for first nations child welfare, known as 20-1, is not helpful in our province. As a result, we have been working together to build a new framework.
As a province, we want to address these historical inequities, particularly in the area of child welfare. The B.C. first nations enhanced prevention services and accountability framework is a key part of the solution.
Created by British Columbia's first nations, the provincial government, and INAC, it establishes a funding framework that both reflects and addresses the complexities of our delegated agencies on reserve. It offers a new funding model that recognizes that operational costs and the delivery of prevention and early intervention services must be considered in any funding agreement in order to have viable and sustainable child welfare services. This framework, brought to Ottawa in September 2008, has the full support of British Columbia provincial first nations leadership.
It carves out a path in which British Columbia first nations can move forward in creating healthier, stronger communities for their children and youth. It recognizes the value and importance of prevention, early intervention, and family support rooted in traditional culture and practice. It builds on the important work done by all three partners over the past decade to improve outcomes for first nations and will offer them an opportunity to leverage this funding to create a holistic, culturally appropriate, on-reserve child, youth, and family support system.
At the end of the day, this tripartite framework makes it abundantly clear that we recognize and value all first nations children and youth, not just those who are in government care.
Each of us here today is committed to forging a new path with our country's first nations. We have had great success in working together, in acknowledging and respecting our differences, and in understanding the importance of supporting rather than leading on this long journey.
I look forward to your continued partnership as we move forward, and I thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today.