First Nations University put on lifeline: Future still uncertain

Canadian Federation of Students

Thursday, June 03, 2010
OTTAWA–

The federal government’s decision to extend funding to First Nations University for another year buys time but leaves an uncertain future for many Aboriginal students.

“Students are relieved that First Nations University will be able to keep its doors open for another year,” said Cassandra Opikokew, Chairperson of the National Aboriginal Caucus of the Canadian Federation of Students. “However, the federal government must end the uncertainty and commit to sustained long-term, Aboriginal-controlled funding.”

Following years of difficulties, the federal and Saskatchewan governments cut funding to the University in February. Despite an institutional restructuring and the decision by the Saskatchewan government to restore funding, the federal government has refused to commit to funding beyond March 2011.

“While the government has stopped short of restoring permanent funding, we are one step closer to ensuring First Nations University has a future,” added Opikokew. “The restoration of funding is a clear sign that students’ actions are having an impact.”

The First Nations University of Canada is the only institution of its kind in Canada and has been a leader in Indigenous education for over 30 years. First Nations University was designed to be the home of treaty education and to serve as a model for First Nations-controlled education.

Founded in 1981, the Canadian Federation of Students is Canada’s largest student organisation, uniting more that one-half million students from ten provinces. The National Aboriginal Caucus is the voice for Aboriginal students in Canada with members on campuses from St. John’s to Victoria.

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Contact: Cassandra Opikokew, National Aboriginal Caucus Chair
Tel: 306-537-2043

Contact: Dave Molenhuis, Canadian Federation of Students National Chairperson
Tel: 613-232-7394

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Tory agenda makes Grit/NDP coalition alluring

From an editorial by Doug Cuthand in the StarPhoenix of April 30, 2010.

The First Nations University of Canada, too, has been cast aside by the federal government. This month’s payroll may well be the last for many FNUC staff. Funds have run out and Ottawa refuses to reinstate its funding despite all the positive moves the university’s new board of governors has made.

The University of Regina is onside to provide administrative support, and the Canadian Association of University Teachers has lifted its censure of FNUC. The university is on the right path to reform, but the federal minister is steadfast in his refusal to support this institution. It’s obvious that First Nations institutions are not part of the Conservative government’s political landscape.

Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl began his political career as a member of the Reform party that begat the Canadian Alliance which morphed into the new Conservative Party of Canada. The Reform party was to the right of the old Progressive Conservative party and made considerable noise about First Nations politics and accountability.

This may have appealed to the Tories’ redneck base, but once in power they tried to bury their past. However they continued to attack First Nations and aboriginal issues. They scrapped the Kelowna Accord, refused to sign on to the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous peoples and, when FNUC encountered internal problems, they jumped on the chance to destroy the university.

In spite of the best efforts of the new board, the new president and the University of Regina, the federal government remains steadfast in its desire to shut down FNUC.

Read more in the StarPhoenix.

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Mercredi praises defenders of First Nations University

From an article by Barb Pacholik in the Leader-Post of April 28, 2010.

Delivering the keynote address Tuesday at the National Aboriginal Leadership Seminar, Mercredi praised those students who recently came to the defence of the First Nations University of Canada during a funding crisis.

He applauded them for standing up for a treaty right, for the beliefs of their ancestors, and for the benefit of future generations.

“It’s a big thing that you stood up for the rights of your people,” Mercredi told the one-day seminar hosted by the University of Regina’s Aboriginal Student Centre.

Read more in the Leader-Post.

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Chuck Strahl Kills First Nations University

REGINA, March 31 /CNW Telbec/ – Students at the First Nations University of Canada have been hung out to dry by Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs, who announced yesterday that the federal government will only provide funding for students at the University until the end of the academic year.

“Minister Strahl has exposed the federal government’s contempt for Canada’s Aboriginal peoples,” said Thomas Roussin, representative of the National Aboriginal Caucus of the Canadian Federation of Students. “Students at First Nations University need a future, not a five month contract.”

Following years of difficulties the institution recently restructured and reached an agreement with the Government of Saskatchewan, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the University of Regina on principles for a new funding mechanism that will address issues of governance and make the institution more accountable. Shortly after reaching the agreement the government of Saskatchewan committed to restore funding; however without the federal government’s $7.2 million annual contribution, the University cannot afford to keep its doors open.

“The federal government is ignoring its treaty obligation to fund Aboriginal education,” added Roussin. “While the government of Saskatchewan has recognized the vital need for a First Nations institution, Ottawa is turning its back on the only such University in Canada.”

First Nations University of Canada has been a symbol of leadership in Aboriginal post-secondary education to people around the world. The University serves as a model for Aboriginal controlled education. The Canadian Federation of Students and National Aboriginal Caucus have called on the government to honour their apology to the Residential School Survivors and increase funding to Aboriginal education and healing.

Founded in 1981, the Canadian Federation of Students is Canada’s largest student organisation, uniting more that one-half million students from ten provinces. The National Aboriginal Caucus is the voice of Aboriginal students in Canada with members on campuses from St. John’s to Victoria.

For further information: Thomas Roussin, National Aboriginal Caucus representative, (306) 596-6716

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Letter #49: Joseph Naytowhow

Ninanaskomon. I give thanks.

Maskoc kika miyitotinana kispin oma kita kipiyihkatik FNUC iskwahtim.
Definitely will we break this bond between Us as Treaty Canadians If the FNUC door were to be suddenly shut.

Nikiskisin ekospi kaki sohkatoskit peyak iskwew kaki macihtatht oma kihci kiskinahamatokamik
Remember do I when One Woman worked laboriously, persevering to lift up the SIFC now FNUC believing this bilingual/bicultural institution to be of a Sacred Nature.

Owehowin awa Ida Wasacase. Niki wapamaw mehcitwaw iyahkamiyimot, imasiniyhiket, ihatosket ekiya ipakicit.
Her name is Ida Wasacase. I did see her so determined, writing proposals, memos, press releases, working tirelessly and not Giving Up.

Metoni maskoc kika mamatoo ekohk i sohki pakiciwepinsocik oki oskiyiyak, inanaskomot, imiywatahk iyahkamiymocik kita nepowisytakik oma kihci kikway Kisiyinewak mena notikwewak kaki kiskiwe iyahk.
Definitely She (Ida) would cry with gratitude an joy seeing the Young people of today Standing Up, determined to support this Sacred Institution the Our Elder Women and Men saw in prophecy as Our means of Surviving and making a Livelihood.

Iki nanato itehitamok oma ka kakwe moniyaw masinahikiyan ota oma mamatawi apacicikan. Nitihi oma ochci nesta ka pikiswatamak oma kita manacihtiyahk oma kikiskinahamtokamikono kahkiyo ohci kiwahkomakanawik mena kiciwaminawak.
Please don’t mind me for this broken way of communicating through this electronic magic instrument. It is fro my heart that I too support the remaining open of the FNUC Door for all Indigenous and European Cousins alike.

Niya oma peyak nistam kaki papam acihoyan ka intomiyakwow oskiyiyak kita pe kiskinahamasocik oti nekan.
I was one of the first recruiters that traveled this province for SIFC, now called FNUC.

Ekosi Pitama. Namoya iyiwak kaki itweyan. Kitatamiskatina wow Kajiyo niwahkomakanik.
That is all for now. No more do I need to say for now. I greet you all respectfully my Relatives.

Joseph Naytowhow
SIFC Summer student recruitment (1975)
Inter-Disciplinary Artist/Drummer/Actor/Musician
Advocate for Education as a Right for all Humanity

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Overwhelming Support for First Nations University of Canada from Alumni

March 19, 2010

First Nations University of Canada provides a unique academic and cultural post-secondary education experience. With over two-thousand and five hundred graduates working regionally, nationally and internationally our Alumni are educators, social workers, artists, nurses, doctors, lawyers, policy analysts, researchers and Chiefs.

Our Elders teach us that education, or ‘the new buffalo’, is the key to prosperity, livelihood and economic independence. A post-secondary education is a good investment. Canadians cannot ignore the detrimental effects that the lack of education among Aboriginal Peoples is having on all Canadians.

Canada originally was a partnership between three Nations: the Anglophones, Francophones and First Nations. Through binding legal agreements now called Treaties, First Nations people allowed for peaceful settlement and access to the land in exchange for support to participate in the new economy. These Treaty rights are enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms as Part II of the Constitution Act, 1982 Sec. 35. First Nations University of Canada is a manifestation of those Federal constitutional obligations.

The First Nations University of Canada Alumni executive support the vision of first-class education. Achieving this vision will be for the benefit of all Canadians, with current alumni having made positive contributions to communities across Canada.

We invite all Canadians who share this vision to challenge governments on all levels to clearly demonstrate how their actions both current and future will support the First Nations University of Canada. The time for rhetoric is over. The Federal Government and the Province of Saskatchewan must provide clear and detailed firm commitments which support the First Nations University of Canada.

Aboriginal Peoples and Canadians deserve nothing less.

Respectfully,

FNUC Alumni Executive Team
Milton Tootoosis, BA, PAED, President
Alika Lafontaine, M.D., BSc.
Marmie Poitras, B.Admin.
Pearl Yuzicappi, B.Admin.

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House of Commons, March 5-11, 2010

Hansard, March 5, 2010

Hon. Ralph Goodale (Wascana, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, yesterday’s budget mentions post-secondary education for aboriginal people, but there is no mention of funding and no mention of First Nations University in Regina. That institution is working hard with partners to correct its governance problems. The Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, the University of Regina and the government of Saskatchewan are all pulling together to help.

Will the federal government fully support these combined efforts to first fix and then preserve First Nations University?

Mr. John Duncan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, we continue to work on options to ensure the affected students complete their academic year. That is our primary concern. As previously stated, we will not be renewing the funding agreement with First Nations University. In terms of discussions with the province the department continues to look at a wide range of options for the funding.

Hon. Ralph Goodale (Wascana, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, this is about hundreds of aboriginal and non-aboriginal students now at First Nations University and generations yet to come. It is about treaty rights and it is about the federal minister’s fiduciary responsibilities. It is about the proper administration of a genuine university and $8 million in federal funding without which a noble vision will get thrown out with the bath water.

Specifically, is that money in fact in the federal budget for 2010-11? Exactly where is it in the budget and will it be directed to the students at First Nations University?

Mr. John Duncan (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, CPC): Mr. Speaker, the department has been working since 2005 with the university to address longstanding and systematic problems. There have been allegations of mismanagement of funds, audit information handed to the RCMP commercial crimes unit, and politicization of the board on all issues. Meanwhile attendance has been falling. That is why the university was censured by the major teacher’s union and it is why the province withdrew its funds as well. We need to be accountable to Canadians as well as first nations.

Hansard, March 8, 2010

Hon. Ralph Goodale (Wascana, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, last Thursday the Minister of Agriculture said that the federal government supports the concept of First Nations University and will work with the University of Regina on ways to save the institution. However, on Friday the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development suggested there would be no federal support for First Nations University, period.

Could the minister correct any misimpression here and confirm that some $7 million will be available to and through the University of Regina once the U of R and other partners finalize a remedial plan with First Nations University?

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, of course we have announced that the funding for First Nations University will not be renewed. The hon. member would know why.

Back in February 2005 when it all started and even before then, senior administrators were suspended from the university. The then Liberal government launched investigations. Forensic audits were done. Those results were handed over to the commercial crime unit of the RCMP. Subsequent to that, we have tried every conceivable way to try to get First Nations University to change the way it does its administration on the board of governance always without success.

For the sake of transparency and accountability, we have had to remove the funding for First Nations University. There will be funding; that money will be put into the university programming generally–

Hansard, March 10, 2010

Ms. Jean Crowder (Nanaimo—Cowichan, NDP): Mr. Speaker, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations voted yesterday to turn financial control of First Nations University over to the University of Regina.

Will the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development agree now that he should reinstate funding to the university, or will he let a great institution die, just when the Speech from the Throne says that education is a priority?

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, there is some dispute about whether it is a great institution or not.

What we have had over the last number of years is an escalating series of problems, starting with investigations, criminal investigations, forensic audits, and there have been reports of trips to Las Vegas and Hawaii. Now the latest one is that $400,000 of money designed to go to student scholarships has been used for other purposes.

How long does one just cut a blank cheque to that kind of organization? We are here to help the students. That is what we are going to do. That is what we promised to do in the throne speech, and we will deliver on that.

Hansard, March 11, 2010

Hon. Ralph Goodale (Wascana, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development met this morning with Chief Lonechild of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. The chief no doubt informed the minister about the decisive action he has taken to fix the problems at First Nations University.

Chief Lonechild has worked sincerely and successfully with a new interim board of governors and CEO, with faculty and students, with the University of Regina and Premier Wall’s provincial government. A strong remedial plan is in fact in place. Will the federal minister now support that plan?

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, I did meet with the First Nations University delegation today. I repeated our position that the current funding formula for First Nations University ends as of March 31. Of course, we will continue to help aboriginal students directly through our post-secondary programming and institutions through our Indian student support program.

Unfortunately, however, repeated and ongoing efforts over the past several years did not bring about the change in accountability that Canadian taxpayers expect and aboriginal students deserve. It is time to focus our attention on those aboriginal students themselves and ensure we have more and continued success for them going forward.

Hon. Ralph Goodale (Wascana, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, if the minister does not reach the March 31 deadline, if certainty is not achieved by then, First Nations University will begin to disintegrate and faculty, staff, and students will need to go elsewhere. Sadly for hundreds of young aboriginal students, there is no elsewhere. Their dream of post-secondary education will simply be over.

Surely the minister will not visit upon these innocent young people the past sins of others. Will the minister ensure the problems are fixed and multi-year federal funding is in place on time?

Hon. Chuck Strahl (Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development, Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians and Minister of the Canadian Northern Economic Development Agency, CPC): Mr. Speaker, if the hon. member wants to look at the past sins of others, he should start by getting up in the morning and looking in the mirror.

If he had taken action when he was still the finance minister for the former Liberal government, then perhaps we would not be in this position today. However, he did not take action.

After repeated efforts, time and again, we ended up where we had forensic audits, trips to the commercial crime unit. The last chief financial officer is talking about trips to Las Vegas, trips to Hawaii. Now $400,000 is missing from students’ scholarship funds and we do not know where it is.

It is time to be accountable to taxpayers and to students and get this fixed.

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Letter #35: Joanne Arnott responds to Chuck Strahl

The Honourable Chuck Strahl, MP
Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs
607 Confederation Building
House of Commons
Ottawa ON K1A 0A6
AINC-INAC Ministre-Minister Minister@ainc-inac.gc.ca

12 March 2010

Dear Chuck Strahl

Thank you for your correspondence of March 12, 2010.

I understand the feeling of being fed-up with a group or situation that does not seem to be progressing along the lines of one’s expectations, this is of course a situation that is very familiar to me. I spent a decade co-facilitating Unlearning Racism workshops at universities and for business and community groups, and nonetheless, the shocking level of ignorance at all levels of our collective Canadian community continues to be deeply distressing to me. I do understand that your decision comes after much trial and much error, and further, I understand that your “cut the crap/cut the funding” decision in relation to First Nations University of Canada is popular with a certain contingent of Conservative supporters, as is evident in the “comments” section of the Globe & Mail website.

I am deeply frustrated that Canadians tolerate such a high level of racism in public spaces, and that leading figures such as yourself are content to make use of the disconnect between indigenous and mainstream Canadians, the “reality gap,” rather than work toward a fuller understanding of one another and a greater level of respect and mutual support. While a Canadian police force recently issued an apology to Muslim communities for mistreatment of Muslim women, the far harsher treatment of indigenous women has yet to be addressed effectively. Still, all mothers are expected to support their children, both culturally and economically, and the supports to do this in a meaningful way lag dramatically behind for Aboriginal women and families. I am happy to submit to you my tax information, and copies of all of my books, if you need further enlightenment on the real-time impacts of violence on the economic and educational aspirations of indigenous women.

I would like to suggest again that the current situation calls for creative and unexpected solutions, and outside-the-box problem-solving initiatives. I would like to suggest that you personally involve yourself in supporting change at the university, first and foremost by re-focusing your perspective away from the longstanding frustration with the host organization, and toward the current and future needs of living and breathing Aboriginal scholars and students, both current and future generations.

The Apology and the Olympics/Four Host Nations are recent, high-profile notes of collaboration that begin to offset historical abuse and current abnegation of indigenous Canadians, and the Throne Speech spin evoking possibilities of justice in the realms of vicious violence and public neglect focused on indigenous women, as well as movement toward redeeming international standing by considering the UN Declaration on Indigenous Peoples, are all to the good.

However, a substantial recognition that all forms of historical and current abuses impact, in a visceral and a cumulative and an ongoing way, all indigenous people in Canada, continues to elude both political decision-makers and those who applaud the gutting of the First Nations University in the country’s newspapers. While the Auto-industry bail-outs were found to be worthwhile, the international and national development of Aboriginal leadership in all spheres of life continues to be an easy-to-dismiss national irrelevance.

I have appended below four letters by four authors, including my original letter to you, in the event that you have not yet had the opportunity to read the words of the scholars who have been based at FNUniv. More can be read at Edward Doolittle’s blog, http://fnuniv.wordpress.com/.

If you are interested, I am happy to speak with you about my own experiences as an intelligent, passionate, and completely uneducated Canadian, who found such an intensity of abuse in Canada’s mainstream universities that I would rather slit my own throat than re-engage with any of those well-funded, much-lauded institutions. I can tell you about an indigenous PhD who gave up on ever gaining tenure at the mainstream school at which she taught, and relocated out of the country, to do volunteer work at a small US community-based indigenous organization, and other anecdotal evidence that while current supports are improving, the situation is not altogether in hand.

While it is true that increasing numbers of indigenous people are responding to the positive supports that are increasingly available in mainstream institutions, and smaller private colleges, and the relentless ad campaigns funded to drive us all back to school, the need for a non-racist environment in which to go about one’s work in a positive way remains unaddressed. While increasing numbers of First Nations scholars do find a home in mainstream organizations, a sure and stable, highly visible base continues to elude us. The collective permission to abuse and dismiss First Nations people, as individuals and as collective identities, continues to have ongoing impacts on all of us, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

I am writing to request again that you find a way through this stand-off, by re-focusing your view upon supporting current and future Aboriginal scholars based at First Nations University of Canada, and thereby promoting Canada’s international standing as a nation of integrity, rather than the schizophrenic creature exposed in Honouring the Spirit of Modern Treaties: Closing the Loopholes (Interim Report, Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples) and in countless other documents, reports, and press releases by national and international organizations of excellent repute. http://www.landclaimscoalition.ca/pdf/080515%20Senate%20Cttee%20Report.pdf

The life histories of indigenous people both as individuals and collectively speaking have been marked deeply by predecessors in your role in government, and the most outstanding indigenous families continue to feel the onslaught of day by day violence by those who have permission to treat any and all indigenous people with scorn, and worse.

Tolerating the dismissive view of First Nations attempts to “get things right” by promoting historical amnesia and neglecting the roots of longstanding hardship and shame is, I continue to hope, well beneath you. It is not only the Treaty Indians of Saskatchewan who will feel the impact of your lack of compassionate imagination. It is not only the Treaty Indians who will benefit, should you choose to exercise your power correctly, in supporting a useful and visionary initiative despite your impatience with and dislike of former governors who failed to meet the schedule of reform that was hoped for. The FSIN has agreed to stand back, the head of the University of Regina has expressed confidence in the current working plan, and the opportunity to do the right thing continues to exist.

First Nations Bank of Canada and Aboriginal Peoples Television Network are two examples of local initiatives which made the successful change to nationally useful supports for all Aboriginal Canadians, regardless of cultural origins and political definitions, and I see no reason why the First Nations University of Canada cannot also be allowed to continue to grow and change, to become increasingly broadly based and a high profile, inspirational option, not only to indigenous youth, but to all Canadians. If I may put it so bluntly, Canada does not need another snuff movie starring indigenous Canadians.

Rather than continuing a path that feeds on racism and encourages despair, promoting Canada’s interest in the North by courting the Inuit while continuing to ignore the rife racism experienced on the ground in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, British Columbia, and elsewhere, all across Canada, why not sit back and consider the overall good that you can do, in your few years in office, to make longstanding and genuine impact on all of Canada, and for the good. There is a time for spin, and a time for substance, and I am really personally quite tired of the spin.

Yours Sincerely,

Joanne Arnott

Cc: Stephen Harper
Michael Ignatieff
Jean Crowder
Todd Russell
Michaelle Jean
Shawn Atleo
Guy Lonechild
Jo-Ann Episkenew
Randy Lundy
Edward Doolittle
Aboriginal Multimedia Society
Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
The Globe & Mail
The Vancouver Sun
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation

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Reason #17: Our relationship with the Crown

The First Nations people of Canada have a special relationship with the Crown by virtue of our treaty relationship. In recognition of that special relationship, Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex, opened the university in 2003. “This is a great day for all Canadians,” he said when opening the building. Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, made a visit to First Nations University her first engagement during the centennial celebrations of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 2005. Queen Elizabeth made a special gift of a stone from Balmoral Castle to First Nations University during her visit.

This stone was taken from the grounds of Balmoral Castle in the Highlands of Scotland – a place dear to my great great grandmother, Queen Victoria. It symbolises the foundation of the rights of First Nations peoples reflected in treaties signed with the Crown during her reign. Bearing the cipher of Queen Victoria as well as my own, this stone is presented to the First Nations University of Canada in the hope that it will serve as a reminder of the special relationship between the Sovereign and all First Nations peoples.

We call on the Government of Canada to continue to honour this special relationship laid out in the treaties. Write your elected representatives today expressing your opinion.

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Education is the key to aboriginal (and Canadian) potential

From an opinion piece by Shawn Atleo, National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, in the Globe and Mail of Sunday, February 21, 2010.

Our agenda is about building strong First Nations that will see Canada fulfill its economic potential. The centre of this agenda is education. First Nations youth are the youngest and fastest-growing segment of our population. Their share of the labour force will triple over the next 20 years. First Nations youth who complete high school are twice as likely to be employed, and those who get university degrees triple their earning potential. Increasing their graduation rates to match those of other Canadians would inject an additional $71-billion into Canada’s economy over the next 10 years. This would help eliminate the employment gap, adding another $160-billion to the economy over a 10-year period.

Every other education system in Canada has a secure, legislated base for funding. First Nations education is not secure and is subject to policy change, reallocations and reductions. This is not acceptable – we seek a commitment to a sustainable funding framework.

Read the full piece in the Globe and Mail.

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