Greg Rickford

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, we appreciate the ex post facto wisdom of the member. However, the reality is that six years ago, in addition to water and sewer matters on reserve, health program delivery and its infrastructure and, as we are speaking thematically today, education were a mess. Hundreds of schools either needed to be severely rehabilitated or replaced. Some communities needed their first school. When I became an MP, there was one school that had burned and had not been replaced by the previous government.

Is the member willing to concede that over the 13 years the Liberals were in power, hundreds of schools had been neglected and there was not an objective framework to prioritize the replacement and rehabilitation of those schools?

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, typically lob questions come from this side of the House, but in this particular case I have been given a second gift by the third party.

If we asked Paul Martin at this very moment whether in his 13 years as a finance minister and his subsequent brief period as prime minister, enough had been done on this particular file, I think he would admit that it had not. This I say with the greatest of respect I can muster for him. The Kelowna accord was agreed on the eve of the third party being put out of power by Canadians across the country, which I think was a strong signal that its policies in this regard had not worked and did not work.

I had the unique experience of living in isolated first nations communities during that time period. Therefore, with some credibility I can say that the frameworks we are working together with now depend on good relationships with first nations leadership and our provincial partners.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, with the exception of my last answer, where I perhaps had a little more of a personal point of contention with previous governments' handling of this and other files, the tone has been respectful, to say the least. I have said to my colleagues across the way that we look forward to working with them.

That said, we are going to move forward in a manner that respects and understands the role of all partners on this important point. Obviously, there is a need for reconciliation in this regard. We believe that improving the quality of education necessarily demands that we all understand the resources that we put into this, that we support the administrative capacity for providing a good education and that we have a framework of tripartite agreements that absolutely delivers on reconciling what, if any, disparities, exist from a purely resource perspective.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I think I mentioned at the outset of my speech that we will be supporting this motion.

I get no greater pleasure than rising in this place and answering any question, whether on water and sewer, education, or the health services delivered by the federal government, and to hold the third party's record on this to account. Decades of whimsical and irresponsible spending is what gave rise to these foundational problems and structural challenges that we face. I know this. I was living there during those dark decades and experienced first hand the shortcomings of the government, as they were then, with respect to education and any other major file with respect to on-reserve living conditions.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I am humbled to answer the question by a gentleman who has invested his professional life in education in the great province of Saskatchewan, from where my mother, her father, and so many of my family members hail.

It is a great question. Aboriginal Affairs supports first nations and their regional organizations by providing funding for programs and services for elementary and secondary education for first nations students who live on reserve. This includes funding for students who are attending band operated schools or funding for the tuition of first nations students who live on reserve and attend provincial schools.

We are talking about 117,500 students, 61% in band operated schools, 36% in provincial schools, and 3% in federal and private schools across this great country.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate my colleague so much. She is one of the few members who is able to ask within one question fifteen others. We went from accountability to resources to legislation, all in one fell swoop. I am going to take this opportunity to focus on the accountability component of this because it is key.

When we look at the partnerships we are establishing, I would point out that accountability rests on all of us, not only federally but also provincially, because provincial governments have constitutional competencies in this administratively and in terms of program delivery. The same applies to first nations educational organizations and first nations community leadership and families. In moving forward we all understand that accountability for this rests on all of us to make important, substantive contributions to help not just to improve education but also, as highlighted today, to commit ourselves to finding the best ways to keep kids in school. We all have to make contributions in this way. This is about the accountability of us all.

On the question of resources, as I said earlier, we have identified education as a key priority in the joint action plan and we are going to work with the Assembly of First Nations and our provincial partners to get maximum value for our collective investments in education moving forward.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I will start my remarks by thanking the constituents of the great Kenora riding, particularly the 42 first nations and the great people who work in towns and cities across my riding on first nations education. I appreciate their input over the past couple of years as we move forward together around strengthening education on and off reserve for first nations.

I want to thank the hon. member for his remarks from the outset, and extend my thanks for bringing this important matter to our attention.

That said, of course we have, in my presentation this morning, quite a bit to say about this. We have had some major accomplishments, even quite recently.

I would like to thank the hon. member for the motion and tell him that I support it. Improving the education of students in first nations communities and the conditions in which these children learn must be one of the highest priorities of all of us here in the House. First nations children must be afforded the same opportunities as children who live off-reserve.

The stakes are simply too high for us not to make first nations education a priority. In fact, the stakes could not be any higher. First and foremost, quality education enables people, regardless of their background, to enjoy more fulfilling, more meaningful and more rewarding lives.

We also know that, in today’s knowledge-based economy, a quality education is an essential building block for career success and community enrichment. As a result of continuing globalization and rapid technological advances, new skills and knowledge are required to enter the labour market. In fact, study after study tells us that some two-thirds of all new jobs will require higher education or advanced training.

What may be less well-known is that, in this emerging working world, gaining a quality education is especially critical for people in first nations communities. It is especially critical for these Canadians because there are major developments occurring in regions, particularly in the north and in the great Kenora riding, where new industries and traditional industries, particularly in the mineral resource area, are fast developing.

As a group, first nations people are much younger than the average Canadians. The median age of these Canadians is 15 years younger than all other Canadians, 25 versus 40. What is more, the growth of the first nations population has been five times greater than the growth of the country's non-aboriginal population in the last decade.

Simply put, young men and women of first nations communities represent the fastest growing segment of our country's population and the most potentially dynamic contributors to our labour market moving forward. If our country is to address anticipated labour shortages in a variety of industries, if we are to boost levels of innovation and entrepreneurship, then first nations kids must be equipped with a quality education.

If Canada is to reach its full potential in a world in which the highest paying jobs are filled by people who possess, not only deep knowledge and keen skills but also nimble minds who are eager to take on new challenges, then first nations youth must be ready to take their place in this exciting labour market moving forward.

This was echoed at the crown-first nations gathering that took place in January. The Governor General said that “our future hinges on our ability to share and to learn from each other, and to create the conditions in which aboriginal and non-aboriginal people can thrive equally, according to their hopes and dreams.”

What are current conditions when it comes to education for first nations children? The federal government spends some $1.5 billion each year to support education for approximately 117,500 elementary and secondary school students who live on reserves.

That is a lot of money. Yet it is not giving us the return we want. Educational outcomes for first nations students are not improving as quickly as they should be.

We are working with our first nations partners to improve high school graduation rates for first nations students. Currently they are significantly lower among children who live on reserves than they are for other Canadians. We appreciate that. Without a high school diploma, labour market options are limited and diminished.

Further, our government is currently spending more than $820 million annually on income assistance programs. We need to find ways to use these programs to better prepare first nations for the workplace.

We must take steps to encourage more boys and girls in first nations communities to stay in school. We must work to improve the educational outcomes of boys and girls in first nations communities.

We must help these young people graduate with the skills they need to enter a labour market that is projecting large labour shortages in the next 5 to 10 years, including up to 190,000 jobs in Alberta and 80,000 jobs in Saskatchewan. With a good education and the right supports, these young people can become permanently attached to the labour force and fully share in Canada’s economic opportunities.

Enabling first nations children to experience better educational outcomes and set off on the path of personal and career success is not an easy task. First nations education is a complex matter, complex because the different levels of government involve the different learning challenges that first nations children face and because of the very nature of education, first nations or otherwise.

That is why our government is focused on practical partnership efforts with two new programs that are already working to set the foundation for the long-term improvement for first nations education. Indeed, these two programs are building blocks that are helping us establish some key school-based, commonly found in high school, high-performing school systems around the country.

The first is the first nation student success program. This program was created to support first nations communities as they develop school success plans, implement learning assessments for students, and put in place performance measurements that will enable schools to assess and report on the progress of their schools and students. In particular, the program focuses on projects that these schools can use to improve literacy, numeracy and student retention.

The program encourages individual first nations to partner together to deliver projects and also to align with provinces by implementing comparable assessments and improving the overall standard of education in first nations communities.

We have also advanced work on the education information system. It is a single data system that tracks performance and, in doing so, responds directly to one of the key concerns that were raised by the Auditor General.

I am pleased to report that 92% of first nation students across the country are benefiting from the first nation student success program. That level of enthusiastic adoption of the program tells me that it is working—that administrators, teachers and students at first nations schools recognize the value of the program.

The second program I want to discuss is the education partnership program. This is a common sense initiative that establishes and advances formal and practical working relationships between officials and educators in regional first nation organizations and schools, and officials and educators in provincial systems. I am pleased to report that, since 2008, our government has used this program to put in place five tripartite education memorandums of understanding with provincial governments and first nations communities and organizations in New Brunswick, Manitoba, Alberta, Prince Edward Island. There is also a sub-regional agreement with the Saskatoon Tribal Council and, as I mentioned in the question previous, more recently in British Columbia.

Those five partnerships, as a result of our efforts, have realized practical partnerships between the federal government, the provincial government and first nations communities that now cover the education of some 58% of eligible first nations communities represented in formal tripartite partnerships.

On January 27, 2012, we signed a tripartite education framework agreement with B.C. and the first nations education steering committee. This tripartite agreement seeks to ensure comparable education so that first nations students are able to transfer between first nations schools and provincial schools at the same grade level and similar level of achievement. I would add that this is an important indicator for success in college and university. One of our superordinate goals here would clearly be to reduce, if not eliminate, the number of preparatory years at college or university that first nations students would require before embarking on a substantive program in a specific faculty.

However, the momentum does not end there. Drafting of tripartite arrangements is currently under way in Quebec, Labrador, Ontario and Yukon.

On a similar note, on Friday I will be in Chisasibi First Nation in Quebec, for the grand opening of this community's new elementary school. This new school is yet another demonstration of the commitment we all share to ensure first nations students have the tools and facilities they need to succeed.

I am pleased to tell my colleagues in this place today that over the past couple of years we have opened no less than three schools in the great Kenora riding with another one soon to be opened. In some cases, these were schools that, for more than a decade and a half, needed to be replaced but which previous administrations or governments had passed over. In one instance, the Lac Seul First Nation had a school built for the first time, one of the richest historical first nation communities in the Sioux Lookout region.

Under the education partnerships programs, partners are working together, sharing expertise and services with the objectives of not just improving the learning environments but, importantly and objectively, through the framework to ensure that the appropriate facilities for first nations communities are available to them so that children can go to school in a nice facility and celebrate learning.

Yet it was Chief David Peter-Paul of Pabineau First Nation in New Brunswick who voiced the best reason for this practical partnership approach. He stated that these forward-thinking agreements—like the one reached in his province—ensure that our first nations children are better educated and prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

I could not agree more. These education partnerships are beginning to address some of the key structural impediments to progress raised by the Auditor General's report. However, members should not take my word for it. The success of these partnerships has been so apparent that first nations leaders and provincial officials elsewhere in Canada have expressed a keen interest in forging similar tripartite arrangements.

I can assure the House that this government will continue to work with our partners in the months and years to come to develop these kinds of important agreements.

We are also using our success with these tripartite agreements as a springboard to carry out the next phase of partnership-based reform. Our government will continue to work with first nations groups and other willing partners to overcome the challenges and impediments they face.

We in this government know that we must work hand in hand with first nations communities to address these impediments. There is simply no other way.

Last summer, we joined the Assembly of First Nations' national chief, Shawn Atleo, a champion in no uncertain terms for education for first nations, to announce Canada's first nations joint action plan. One of our key action plan priorities was education, a non-partisan, arm's-length national panel on first nations K to 12 education. We asked panel members to travel to first nations communities across the country to gain perspectives and opinions from first nations leaders, parents, students, elders and teachers on further steps that we could take to improve first nations education for children living on reserves. Many other Canadians have also had the chance to contribute to this important effort via the panel's website.

Let me provide you with one quote the panel received from Kenzie, a grade 7 student from Cross Lake First Nation in Manitoba, where I worked as a nurse over 7 or 8 years ago. He said, “No matter what kind it is, we will be better off with education. We become better people and better citizens and we also can have better lives.”

We are indebted to the national panel members for their tremendous work, which will guide our actions in the months and years ahead. Their report, which was released just last week, provides valuable feedback and recommendations on the next steps that could be taken to improve education on reserves. They done first nations youth in our country a great service by offering a menu of pragmatic measures and recommendations to ensure that first nations children succeed in school, develop their talents and fulfill their hopes and dreams.

We will now work with the Assembly of First Nations and others to consider and act on the panel's recommendations to improve K-to-12 first nations education.

Our overall goal, however, remains much the same: to provide first nation students with quality education that enables them to realize their aspirations and receive the skills they need to enter the labour market and be full participants in a strong Canadian economy.

With just a couple of minutes left, I want to emphasize that our government is determined that aboriginal learners will enjoy the same opportunities as other Canadians. This motion also represents a relationship here in this place between all parties. It recognizes that while there remain some structural challenges ahead and there continue to be questions of resources, it does not depend exclusively on any one of these. It demands partnerships here in this place and non-partisan, substantive discussions about how we can work with first nation communities, first nation leadership and organizations and the provinces to improve the fortunes of first nation students and the education they receive.

I want to thank the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development for his tremendous leadership in education and leadership in working with National Chief Shawn Atleo and stakeholders and the provinces across this country, and for giving me the opportunity, not just at committee but in so many instances, to work lock-step with him and my colleagues on the standing committee. We have received tremendous support from this caucus to make important strides toward improving education in first nation communities across this great country.

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I appreciate the passion with which the member speaks. It is a pleasure working with her at committee, particularly around education and the relationship with the environment. Just as recently as this week, we had an opportunity to talk about that relationship so first nations communities can play an important role in environmental stewardship and processes that take place with development across the North.

My question is with respect to a recent agreement signed by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development; British Columbia's minister of education, George Abbott; and Tyrone McNeil, president of the First Nations Education Steering Committee. It is a tripartite education framework that aims to provide B.C. first nations students with access to quality education programs and more flexibility to attend school on or off reserve.

Does the member concur with the notion that provinces, as a constitutional matter, play a significant role in the administration and the delivery of education, that they have an important role to play across the country and that developing these tripartite agreements across the country, as we have a number of already, is also an important way to improve the quality of education for first nations on and off reserve?

[Business of Supply, February 16th, 2012]

Madam Speaker, I appreciated the speech given by the member opposite. I would like to ask him a question and make some comments. On June 9, the minister and the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Shawn Atleo, announced a Canada-first nations joint action plan designed to improve the quality of life of first nations people. Education was identified as one of the major priorities. On January 24, 2012, a historic crown-first nations gathering took place. Once again, education was identified as a priority by the first nations and the Government of Canada.

My question for the hon. member is a simple yes or no question. Is this the first and most important step in making sure that we have established a relationship and that both parties intend to work together to build an education system in every province that will benefit every first nation in Canada? Is it important to start with that?

[Ending The Long-Gun Registry Act, February 15th, 2012]

Mr. Speaker, on a point of order, I want to point out to the member that it is not the practice, and it is contrary to the Standing Orders, to identify somebody's absence or presence here in the House.