I would assume that the vast majority of my, for lack of a better term, colleagues, will disagree with me on this one, but I’m a little uncomfortable with the idea of turning university grants for natives into repayable loans. And that would be completely inconsistent, incompatible, and possibly even incoherent from my previous arguments against socialist spending programs enacted by the federal government that aren’t entirely egalitarian in nature. What do I mean? Well, I usually oppose any kind of programs that are essentially based on affirmative action, or the more modern term “restorative justice”, in order to endow benefits and assistance to a particular demographic because of an either perceived historical injustice or inequality. But in this case I may have to break faith with my usual ideological stance, and say that this is, overall, a poor idea:
WINNIPEG — The federal government is considering turning university grants for aboriginal students into repayable loans.
A Winnipeg paper said in a report from Ottawa that Patricia Valladao, spokesman for Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, confirmed the Post-Secondary Student Support Program is under review.
She wouldn’t say if the department has decided to transfer control of $314 million in student grants for First Nations university and college students to the existing Canada Student Loans Program, administered by provinces.
The review is worrying some aboriginal leaders and university officials across the country.
One Quebec-based aboriginal group, the First Nations Education Council, is circulating a web-based petition against any changes. More than 13,000 supporters have signed it since its launch online Nov. 13.
“Under review” doesn’t mean anything is definite yet, and others have even suggested that the media has got it all wrong, and that natives aren’t being forced to repay loans, only that First Nations university grants are being transferred into the administration of the Canada Student Loans Program. An amalgamation, if you will.
But let’s discuss the idea of victimhood and compensation and federal grants for a moment. I’ve made some comments about natives in the past that haven’t exactly been well received, with my remarks breaking down to the essential point that at a certain stage we have to accept that colonial powers have long ago rendered the concept of a First Nations contemporaneous nation impossible, and so it is perhaps better for them to just integrate. I realize now that that was probably a poor choice of advocacy, but the underlying truth was one of hope for a prosperous future for all Canadians, and not some unfounded suspicion that I dislike natives. Heteronormative racist, I believe, was the term used to describe me.
So how can I hold the simultaneous belief that all peoples should be treated equally and as individuals in this country, and also not want to eliminate federal grants to natives? Well, to answer that question, we need to look at statistical information that forces a more pragmatic approach:
Take four news reports in the last week. The first confirmed the terrible literacy problems in the aboriginal community. A Statistics Canada report found only 30 per cent of off-reserve natives in Saskatchewan had the literacy levels needed to “successfully cope in a complex knowledge- and information-based society.” That’s half the non-aboriginal rate.
The second highlighted the national failure of efforts to deal with the problem. A review of school safety looked at the First Nations School of Toronto, set up to help aboriginal students succeed. Not one member of the Grade 3 class met provincial standards in reading, writing or arithmetic; one-third of the 450 elementary school students had been suspended in the previous school year.
[...]
The third report, based on census results, looked at the rapid increase in the self-identified aboriginal population in Canada. It grew 45 per cent between 1996 and 2006, almost six times the general population growth. One factor was a higher birth rate; 28 per cent of B.C. aboriginals are under 15.
[...]
The fourth report was the latest update on labour shortages in Canada, as the federal government expanded a program that allows foreign workers to fill jobs in every area from construction to hotel housekeeping. Employers say they need to bring in temporary workers because no one can be found within the country to do the work.
Now, the above article is nearly a year old, and the labour shortages in the market are certainly not going to be a problem in a recession, although it’s certainly valid to question the need for temporary foreign labour when we have a large and underutilized labour force in Canada. Essentially the main “barrier to entry”, so to speak, for natives to getting out of the reservations and into the workforce, is education. So in that vein, in that train of thought, it would be illogical to erect another barrier to entry, no matter how much it is based upon the principles of treating natives like “everyone else”. I have two children that I put $300 away from every cheque into an RESP to insure their future education, and unlike some native students, they will not be qualifying for a subsidized education. However my children also will not have to live on reservations with often-times second-rate medical services and amenities, and go through periods of long unemployment, if not chronic generational poverty and misery.
So I feel that anything that encourages natives to participate in post-secondary education, particularly one that is a non-mandatory form of participation and integration into Canadian society and the economy [and that's not to say that natives are not Canadians], can only be a good thing on the whole. The alternative is to perpetuate everything that is wrong with aboriginal policy and the dependence on the reservation-state that maintains a quality of living that no Canadian should endure. This is not to say that natives will then need to leave behind the reservation forever. Natives who succeed in University can return to inspire other young people to enhance their lives and their livelihoods, and this raises the entire bar for the aboriginal community.
Related
Saskboy: Federal Conservatives Fail in First Nations Lead Balloon [Link]
December 31, 2008 at 1:20 pm
One thing many Conservative commentators is missing from their analysis is that First Nations are not getting “special treatment”. They are getting a right they bargained for when they peacefully surrendered most of Canada’s resources to the provinces, and to the waves of immigrants.
The best solution that brings First Nations in line with other Canadian students is to stop charging tuition for any university or accredited college. It’s done in many other countries around the world, and we could do it here too.
December 31, 2008 at 1:23 pm
Saskboy,
Yes, I recall reading that it was a part of treaty signings and something negotiated long ago. I’m not opposed to your idea at all.