NO HIGHER PRIORITY

One in four children in Manitoba are Aboriginal. As this young population ages, access to education for Aboriginal students must be a priority.
The provincial government has maintained its commitment to initiatives such as the acclaimed ACCESS program and Prior Learning Assessment Program, as well as more general measures to improve access. The federal government, however, has not provided adequate support mechanisms.

Funding increases to the federal Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP), which helps status First Nation and Inuit students to pursue their post-secondary education studies, has been capped at 2% since 1996 — this, in spite of recommendations to increase funding.

Bands have long waiting lists for student funding, and allocations are inadequate to support the growing number of Aboriginal youth. Métis students receive some provincial support, but some of this aid is only available to students with high grades achieved in the final year of a university program studies.

Now, in a backwards attempt to pass the buck, the federal government is considering transferring the responsibility to fund Aboriginal education from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) to the Canada Student Loans Program (CSLP), effectively shunning its responsibility for First Nations education, and its accountability to First Nations communities.

PSE: THE WIDENING GAP
According to INAC, the Aboriginal population of Canada grew by 322% between 1971 and 2001 — this, as compared to non-Aboriginal population growth rates of 37%.

Currently, over 30% of Canada’s Aboriginal population is under age 24. Yet, participation rates in post-secondary education among the Aboriginal student population across Canada are lower than the overall population. According to 2001 census data, only 4% of the Aboriginal population have obtained a university degree as their highest level of education — this, compared with 15% of the total population.

TREATY RIGHTS
Recent suggestions that INAC is considering shifting funding responsibility from the PSSSP to the CSLP are clear indications that the Government of Canada interprets Aboriginal post-secondary education as a matter of policy, rather than legally-binding Treaty Rights.

Claims that the administration of First Nations’ funding is being mismanaged by the individual bands are baseless. Two INAC audits by Pricewaterhouse Coopers and Hanson Macleod Institute demonstrated that First Nations are fully accountable and INAC’s non-compliance with its own policies is an issue.

“Where there is doubt about the interpretation of wording or how treaty language should be interpreted, ambiguities must be resolved in favour of First Nations people.”
— Supreme Court of Canada, Regina vs. Badger, 1996

Article 14 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples also states that, “Indigenous peoples have the right to establish and control their educational systems and institutions providing education in their own languages, in a manner appropriate to their cultural methods of teaching and learning.”

ABORIGINAL STUDENT FUNDING
In order to fulfill its treaty obligations and address the needs of Manitoba’s fastest-growing population, the federal government must significantly increase funding and other supports for Aboriginal students by immediately removing the 2% funding cap. For its part, the provincial government must reduce tuition fees, which undermine the already limited federal funding, and provide more funding for bursaries and grants for Aboriginal students, and peg program funding increases to Aboriginal population growth rates. Finally, the Post-Secondary Student Support Program must remain under the administration of INAC and the bands, with proper funding increases accordingly provided.

“The committee recommends that the 2% annual cap on spending increases from INAC’s Post Secondary Education Program be eliminated immediately ... and that spending increases for PSE programming be based on actual costs associated with program components.”
— The Sixth Report of the Standing Committee on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development

The Canadian Federation of Students seeks:
• to ensure the federal government implements the recommendations of the No Higher Priority report on Aboriginal post-secondary education;
• lower tuition fees and student debt in Manitoba;
• to ensure post-secondary education as a Treaty Right;
• more and higher grants for Aboriginal students through fudning increases to the Post-Secondary Student Support Program (PSSSP) and other funding mechanisms; and
• to ensure that funding increases for Aboriginal students keep pace with the growth of the young Aboriginal population.

*Click Download for the full No Higher Priorities Report*