New First Nations Education Act an 'illusion of control'

The First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act, tabled in Parliament yesterday, is an attempt to create the illusion of First Nations control over education.

At the same time it maintainsin the spirit of Canadian colonial lawmakingan unfettered discretionaccruing to the minister and granting him or her with sweeping power and controlover a variety of educational matters.

The FNCFNEA is selling enticementsof "control"while perpetuating the denial and the existence of inherent and treatyrights (ie. jurisdiction) of indigenous peoples.

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The complicating factor in this caseis that the illusion of First Nations control over education is being supported byShawnAtleo, the National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations,and a handful of AFN member community leaders.

Support for the bill by the national chief however is immaterial given the AFN doesnot hold decision-making powers that bind community decision-makers.

Self-determinationdenied in bill's current form

Indigenous peoples living in the successor state of Canada (with or without treaties), have rights of self-determination, recognized under international law andare blatantly denied in the current form of this bill.

This is evidenced by the fact thatthe minister maintains an "Indian agent"role and can take control of acommunityeducation program based on performance outcomes that are not determined by ourcommunities, but by standards developed within provincial education systems thatwe have historically had no input in developing.

This is problematic if you believe,like me, that as self-determining indigenous peoples, we hold the rightto design and implement opportunities to develop the potential of our childrenand young people based on our own criteria and based on the priorities of ourunique societies and cultures.

Onlythrough the development of our own education systems based in our indigenouspedagogy and ways of being will our students thrive in a school system.- Chief Derek Nepinak

Some might say that this can be accomplished withinthe provisions of the bill. However, it is important to recognize that building aneducation system based on our languages and our cultural practices would not yieldresults that could be easily measured based on criteria and priorities identified byprovincial education systems.

There is evidence through multiple research studiesand reports that western provincial school systems have failed our children. Onlythrough the development of our own education systems based in our indigenouspedagogy and ways of being will our students thrive in a school system.

A good life for our children is still the goal of our families as indigenouspeoples. As such, benchmarks of success in western education systems areincidental to building a beautiful indigenous life experience.

What does it really mean to address parity in funding?

Much has been made of the $1.9-billioninvestment and the lifting ofthe "funding cap"that forms part of the enticement package of the bill.

Theidentification of a limited investment in the great divide that exists between on-reserve schooling and provincial education systems however should be a furtherindication of the lack of commitment towards real solutions.

The pursuit ofparity in education opportunity for our young people requires significantly morethan a partial funding of a historical inequity that has existed for decades.

Realcommitment to addressing the funding gap would start with a quantification of thereal and current deficit in investment to establish a starting point for discussionson investments needed. It would also include an immediate implementation of thedecision, opposed to a delayed implementation.

The current state of the fundingmechanism as enticement to the bill is nothing more than a campaign promiseacampaign promise of the same nature that this government and its bureaucracycall "corruption"when local leadership make spending promises in Indian Actelection campaigns.

It is also quite possible, based on past practice, that theConservatives are buying time to find other existing Indian Act programs or servicesto cut funding from in order to raise the capital to fund the promise.

'Man-made funding crisis'

It should not be forgotten that successive generations of children from ourcommunities have been subjected to a man-made funding crisis made all themore damaging by a failure to acknowledge the population boom that we areexperiencing within our families and communities.

The man-made funding crisisforced many of our communities into provincial agreements in recent years becausethere were no other options to counter the financial-starving-out strategy of federalgovernments.

The choice to enter into provincial agreements was not really a choiceat all if communities wanted to provide our children with basic instruction and hireteachers at competitive wages.

The new bill has been touted as an enhancementor strengthening of provincial agreements, when the reality is that many of ourcommunities had no choice but to make a provincial agreement.

The use of laws and policies to push outcomes onindigenous families and communities is part of an assimilation agenda that gave riseto the residential school andtoday'schild welfare system.- Derek Nepinak

There is a long history of colonial lawmakers in Canada creating laws and policiesin the pursuit of making indigenous peoples more like them.

This is evidencedby those who say we need to "close the gap"on education outcomes because itdemonstrates an effort to push our children towards only one marker of educationalaccomplishment as set by others.

The use of laws and policies to push outcomes onindigenous families and communities is part of an assimilation agenda that gave riseto the residential school and today's child welfare system.

The assimilation agendafinds its strength in discrimination and claims to racial superiority that are systemicproblems in our relationship with Canadian governments.

This new bill is not adeparture from that age-old problem;it continues to affirmit.