A former deputy minister for the federal government is shedding more light on why First Nations and the government can’t seem to agree on how underfunded First Nations schools are.
Speaking this morning at the special chief’s assembly in Quebec, Don Drummond says estimates on how underfunded on-reserve schools can be range from 10% to 50%
At the other end of the spectrum the former federal minister for Aboriginal Affairs at one point claimed there was no shortfall.
Drummond says this makes it tough to address an issue of such importance.
He says some of the factors that bring upon the disagreements are that the core-funds that tends to get focused on are based upon a draft formula.
This of course he says is based upon a 2% growth cap.
As well he says provinces fund differently and some, like Manitoba, don’t even adjust for geographical remoteness.
There are also some temporary funding measures the federal government points to when it defends its record:
“On the other hand when the minister said there was no funding gap he was counting all of the funding, temporary and on-going, and giving it equal weight.”
Drummond says this isn’t quite fair because bands can’t plan for tomorrow when the money could suddenly disappear:
“You don’t know if that funding’s going to be there. You can’t hire another five teachers not knowing whether you’re going to be able to pay them.”
Drummond says he can’t believe that 17 years after it was brought in, the 2% funding gap still exists.
He says it was initially designed to be a stop-gap measure until the country got the economy balanced.
Despite this Drummond advises First Nations not to worry so much about getting education funding equal to the rest of Canada.
He says that’s because on-reserve schools will need more money than regular schools therefore the funding should be higher than the provincial standard.