Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt says the government has no immediate plans to craft a new First Nations education act.
The Harper government said it is scrapping the controversial Bill C-33 after the Assembly of First Nations passed a resolution unanimously rejecting the bill in May.
Former AFN Chief Shawn Atleo had supported the government’s education act but resigned earlier this year amidst internal complaints over this support.
Valcourt says he remains disappointed the AFN chose to withdraw support for the initial act.
“We were extremely disappointed that the AFN walked away from the agreement we had reached specifically incorporating in to the bill the five conditions that had been identified by the chiefs and assembly in the previous meeting,” he says.
He adds it is frustrating for the government to end up right back where it started on First Nations education after working with a number of Aboriginal leaders to draft the bill.
“First Nations themselves have been claiming for control of First Nations education since 1971 and for once they were making this huge step to getting control of the education system which unfortunately has been turned down.”
The Minister of Aboriginal Affairs was in Saskatoon last week to make an announcement on job market tracking.