Aboriginal Affairs short of cash for education, social programs: document

Canada's Department of Aboriginal Affairs has beenrobbing Peter to pay Paul.In this case, "Peter" is the department's infrastructure budget and "Paul" refers to its cash-strapped social and educationprograms.

A new document shows Aboriginal Affairs and Northern DevelopmentCanada (AANDC) shifted half a billion dollars meant for infrastructure over a six-year period to try to cover shortfalls elsewhere.

The result? The department's already strapped infrastructureprogram is starting to buckle while its social and education needsare still falling short.

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"Significant reallocations from infrastructure to other programshave occurred over the past six years," says the June 2013 document. "For example, AANDC has reallocated approximately $505million in infrastructure dollars to social, education and otherprograms to try to fill the shortfall in these areas.

"Since infrastructure was not able to cover off all of socialand education needs in each year, other internal resources were used to cover off the remaining shortfall.

"This ongoing reallocation is putting pressure on an alreadystrained infrastructure program and has still not been enough toadequately meet the needs of social and education programs."

Somehow people don't realize that, OK, we took half a billiondollars away to put into social programming to help First Nations,now somebody doesn't have access to potable water. I mean, that'sreal.-FranklinPaibomsai, chief of theWhitefish River First Nation

Using infrastructure money for other purposes has a real impacton aboriginal communities, said Franklin Paibomsai, chief of theWhitefish River First Nation in northern Ontario. Schools don't getbuilt and communities get put under boil-water advisories, he said.

"So those are the impacts. They're real, because they really hithome. They're bread-and-butter pieces for every community,"Paibomsai said in an interview.

"Somehow people don't realize that, OK, we took half a billiondollars away to put into social programming to help First Nations,now somebody doesn't have access to potable water. I mean, that'sreal. That's as real as it gets."

The 22-page document, which appears to be a slide showpresentation, is buried within a mountain of paperwork filed as part of First Nations advocate Cindy Blackstock's long battle at theCanadian Human Rights Tribunal to get aboriginal children the samefunding from the federal government as non-aboriginal kids get fromthe provinces.

The Liberal party's critic for aboriginal affairs, MP CarolynBennett, said the document shows First Nations communities are notgetting the funding they need.

"Mr. Harper's government can no longer hide their severe andchronic underfunding of critical needs like housing, clean water andeducation on reserve," she said in a statement.

"It is time for the federal government to work in good faithwith aboriginal communities to properly fund these programs ratherthan hiding its mismanagement with dishonest shell games."The end result of shifting infrastructure money elsewhere is an"inability to provide provincial-like services on reserve," saysthe document.

The federal government acknowledges it has no idea how itsspending on aboriginals compares to provincial and territorialspending on the rest of Canada's population.

"No broad-based work has been undertaken comparing estimates offederal spending on Aboriginal Peoples to spending by provinces andterritories on the general Canadian population," says a memo givento Finance Minister Joe Oliver this past June.

"Therefore, we are unable to contrast the $11 billion in annual federal spending on Aboriginal Peoples with aggregate spending onother groups."

The Canadian Press obtained the memo to Oliver, which is marked"secret," under the Access to Information Act.Aboriginal Affairs is responsible for about $7.9 billion of the $11 billion spent by all federal departments and agencies on programs for aboriginals. That doesn't include general programs and services that may also happen to benefit aboriginal people, such as old-age security.

Since the mid-to-late 1990s, however, increases in spending onmost on-reserve programs and services have been capped at two percent annually. The slide show document says the cap isn't keepingpace with rising expenditures.

"Because price and volume pressures are greater than the two per cent annual escalator currently permitted, AANDC is redirectingfunding from infrastructure programs ... to meet current pressureswithin social (income assistance and child and family services),education, governance and emergency management."

The cap has long been a bone of contention between aboriginalleaders and past and present federal governments.

Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt's office was asked aseries of detailed questions about the document, but responded onlywith a boilerplate statement blaming the education funding cap onthe previous Liberal government.

"Our government has made investments in education,infrastructure and key areas that are well-beyond the two per centcap," the statement said.

"Our government will continue to make targeted investments thatgo beyond the minimum two per cent escalator when necessary and whenit is a responsible use of taxpayer funds to encourage theconditions for an improved quality of life on reserve."