NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY NATIONAL CHIEF PATRICK BRAZEAU CONGRESS OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLESTO THE PRE-BUDGET CONSULTATION ROUNDTABLE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCE
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
FEBRUARY 20, 2007
BUDGET 2007 CONSULTATIONS
I want to thank you, Minister Flaherty, and you, Ms. Ablonczy, for this evening’s consultation meeting. I intend to be brief, so I’ll get right to the points I want to make.
As you will know, during the last election campaign, the Prime Minister wrote to the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples to outline the commitments his government would deliver on to the people our organization represents – off-reserve Aboriginal peoples.
Action on these commitments is the basis of our expectations for Budget 2007. The Prime Minister undertook that his government would work in collaboration and partnership with the Congress to review Departmental expenditures for Aboriginal peoples, with the goal of restoring a much-needed balance between on- and off-reserve Aboriginal expenditures.
Prime Minister Harper also endorsed action on clear, democratic and accountable systems for expenditure control.
The Congress is ready and willing to work with the Government on all of these fronts. And so, it is in this context that I would like to highlight the areas in which specific and achievable targets must be set, over and above the need for a structured dialogue between the government and the Congress on financial priorities.
First, I want to express the Congress’ support for the renewal and expansion of the Urban Aboriginal Strategy that Minister Prentice has worked to achieve in Budget 2007.
This is an important, though modest, initiative that is working in part because it has been accountable to the communities involved. We believe that it represents a good start on programming for the urban Aboriginal reality.
However, there remains considerable effort to apply in dealing with the fiscal imbalance in Aboriginal affairs, which sees 51% of status Indians living away from Indian Act reserves, yet offers only $1 in spending, off-reserve, for every $8 dollars spent on-reserve.
Second, I wish to encourage you to set aside sufficient resources to extend the work of the post-Powley initiative managed through Minister Prentice as Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians.
Our efforts in respect of research on the impacts of the Powley decision have established, without doubt, that CAP’s constituent Métis do meet the conditions and criteria set out by the Supreme Court in the rendering of its decision.
Funding to support a formal Powley implementation strategy is required, to enable further consultation among both provincial governments and the Government of Canada.
Through this, we can ensure that the use of the right as affirmed by the Supreme Court, is successfully implemented across jurisdictions.
Third, I would like to highlight some issues relating to Budget 2006’s commitment of $300 Million for sorely-needed funding for off-reserve Aboriginal housing.
We were greatly enthused by this program, and we want to see it work. However, it is unfortunate that the means of this transfer could not include any measures of federal oversight.
Many provinces have yet to gain broad experience with managing what you clearly intended to be a joint or partnered initiative, with our regional affiliates and their housing agencies. The result has been a great deal of confusion and delay. We fear that the money may be spent via non-accountable agencies, or not invested as intended — for off-reserve Aboriginal housing — at all.
We ask you, as Minister, to work with the Congress over the coming months to strengthen the means of working effectively, sustainably and accountably with the provinces.
As Mr. Harper committed last year in his letter to our organization, there must be transfers to the provinces, and with them, report card mechanisms to measure real progress and results-against-plan.
Fourth, I want to congratulate you and Minister Clement for implementing the important multi-year funding for Aboriginal health that was confirmed last year. One part of that initiative is for targeted Aboriginal Health Transition funding via the provinces. In this case, provinces are required to partner with our affiliates and those of other National Aboriginal organizations to get access to those funds.
This model – involving federal support for provincial-Aboriginal partnerships – is a much more prudent way to proceed than by way of unconditional transfers.
However, I must add a note of caution. There have been too many demonstrations of instances where Aboriginal political organizations have actively and purposefully resisted and opposed equitable access by off-reserve Aboriginal peoples to this fund.
Aboriginal health and well-being should never become the stuff of politics, as we know they have in the current domain of Aboriginal healthcare.
To combat this, we strongly encourage the Harper government to ensure that transparency, accountability and responsibility guide the governance and delivery of these programs so fundamental to Aboriginal quality of life.
It is also important to ensure that should any given province or territory choose not to act on the availing of such funds, Aboriginal peoples in the respective jurisdiction are not left in the lurch.
No province or territory should be provided a veto against progress, especially when it is federal funding that is the lever to making things happen.
My fifth point concerns the pursuits of Minister Prentice in two areas that are of great importance to the Congress: education, and economic development. I realize that Minister Prentice is in the process of coming forward with new plans for both these essential areas of progress, and I offer our support and thanks for this.
As both stakeholders in Canada’s Aboriginal affairs, and shareholders in ensuring that this country’s abundant prosperity is enjoyed by all its citizens, I ask you to consider and support his requests in respect of these programs, so fundamental to leveling the playing field between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.
We implore this government to do what others before it have failed to do: That is, to insist and ensure that all Aboriginal peoples be included in these programs’ provisions, and that they be given sufficient new resources to make a difference.
We do not wish to, nor can Canada as a country afford to, see yet another generation of off-reserve Aboriginal peoples denied the tools they need to achieve greatness, and to secure advantage. This was a core feature of the Prime Minister’s platform, and it is one to which we remain resolutely committed.
Finally, there is the environment. Of all Canadians, I would hope that Aboriginal peoples hold this issue, and the protection of the land and all its riches, at the top of any set of priorities.
When the natural environment is damaged, so too, are the people for whom we speak — for we are more often directly reliant upon the natural environment than most.
We ask you, Minister, in working with your colleague, Minister Baird, to invest sufficient resources to both encourage and permit our communities and our organization to join forces with others and yourselves, to make a difference.
In closing, I’d like to add one last thought.
To make the Canadian Advantage work, Aboriginal peoples – the youngest and fastest growing component of our society – must be included — as players at the front end in planning, as partners in the real decision-making process, and as colleagues on the road to delivery and evaluation.
There’s no better time than now, nor no better nation than Canada, to show its citizens and the world at large, how best to ensure that all Canadians may gain advantage in our country – and stake their rightful claim to its rich inheritance.
Together with our Aboriginal communities, we can work to guarantee Canada’s place, both at home and in the world, as a beacon of prosperity and a purveyor of hope.
Canada’s Aboriginal peoples, both off- and on-reserve, aspire to do as much, and they should expect no less than this, quite frankly.
Our people need your help. Our communities need your help. And the Canadian economy and its workforce needs the help Aboriginal peoples are so eager to bring to Canada’s engines of economic growth.
We believe that Canadians everywhere need us all to get on with building real hope for real people. Let’s sharpen our pencils, roll up our sleeves and get to work, shall we?
Together, we’ve a job to do, and it’s time we got to it. Thank you Minister, Merci, Megweetch.
