Funds for aboriginal education, housing could be protected

The federal government must protect "key areas" of funding for aboriginal communities such as education and housing,one of the government's top MPs on the portfolio says following pre-budget consultation meetings withcommunity stakeholders.

In an interview airing Saturday on CBC's Radio The House, Greg Rickford, parliamentary secretary the minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, would not confim whether the department would be subjected to spending cuts.

"I'm not going to comment on whether there's a10 per cent or zero percent out there," Rickford said.

But when asked by host Evan Solomon whether the government has drawn a line around certain spendingareas, Rickford said Ottawa has received a clear message from First Nations leaders.

"I think that what we have to understand, and we got this from the budget consultations, is that there are key areas that we must protect, whether it's skills training for specific industries, education [and]obviously housing," Rickford said.

Government officialshave been careful to downplay expectations about the outcome of next Tuesday's Crown-First Nations meeting in Ottawa.

Rickford spent the past week talking economy with aboriginal stakeholders in St.John's, Montreal, Vancouver, and Whitehorse as part of the government's cross-country pre-budget consultation.

"Those are the inputs from First Nations communities, and absolutely, we have to understand that before we pursue any other budget consideration," said Rickford, who will be attending Tuesday's meeting.

On Friday, the office for the minister leading Tuesday's gathering confirmed that John Duncan and Assembly of First Nations National Chief Atleo had spoken by telephone earlier in the week.

Duncan's office also confirmed that in addition to the prime minister's presence,10 federal ministers and other high-ranking officals will also attend the meeting.

And while Finance Minister Jim Flaherty will not be attending, Treasury Board President Tony Clement will be.

Clement is the minister in charge of finding up to $8 billion in savings annually through the government's strategic and operating review.

All 67 government departments were asked to submit proposals for cuts offive per centto 10 per cent.