Saskatchewan’s lone Liberal MP says his party opposes the Harper government’s transfer cuts to the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and would consider restoring funding if elected to government.
Ralph Goodale says cutting the FSIN’s funding is another example of why the Conservative government has a poor relationship with Aboriginal organizations.
He says the cuts are a mistake on several levels but at the same time wouldn’t guarantee a Liberal government would restore funding.
Goodale adds he is all in favour of organizations like the FSIN becoming less reliant on government funding but questions where the shortfall will be made up.
“That would be a good thing,” he says. “How likely that is to happen, is another question.”
On the other hand, northern Saskatchewan Conservative MP Rob Clarke says equality is one of the reasons why the government decided to claw back funding to the FSIN.
According to Clarke, there were large discrepancies in the amount of core-funding the government had been delivering to Aboriginal groups.
He says some groups were getting just $500,000 while others were getting as much as $7 million.
“We made a commitment to the Canadian taxpayers and to be accountable to them and to get a balanced budget and we’re looking at all funding across every department and looking where there’s money being wasted and we are still going to maintain the funding in the envelopes where funding is being accountable and it’s also being used correctly and also being productive,” he says.
Clarke adds the government is trying to streamline its delivery of funds for core-services directly to First Nations individuals rather than indirectly through organizations.
The northern MP says he doesn’t think more cuts are coming to Aboriginal organizations in this spring’s budget but admits he could be wrong.