Cost versus what it's worth

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This year's National Aboriginal Achievement Awards show held in Calgary April 4 cost an estimated $3 million, reports the foundation that puts together the gala awards night. That's down from last year, when the foundation held its 10th anniversary show in Ottawa at a cost of $4.5 million.

The National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation annually pays tribute to the accomplishments of 14 people from the Aboriginal community in a posh public celebration. The stage show, complete with elaborate set and performances by Aboriginal musical artists, is taped for television and later aired to a national audience, this year simulcast on APTN and CBC on June 21.

Foundation chair Bill Shead said the gala night creates role models for young Aboriginal people from coast to coast.

"No matter what field of endeavor a young person is going to strive for, there will be an example of an Aboriginal person who has made a significant contribution to life in that field," he said in an interview on April 20.

But at what cost, some observers have asked?

"I don't think it's a good use of money to be spending that much on the annual celebration and so little on actual benefits to young Aboriginal people trying to move forward with their careers," said Pat Martin, Member of Parliament for Winnipeg Centre. He was concerned with the nearly $5 million it cost to hold the show in 2003.

Martin said that money represented a year's worth of tuition for about 1,000 students. In fact, the foundation distributed $2.1 million in the form of scholarships and bursaries this year, an average of about $3,500 for each of the 574 students who received benefit from the scholarship program. The cost of last year's show represents scholarships for another 1,300 students, and the more modest spending this year represents about 850 students.

Shead was sympathetic to that perspective.

"I see your point exactly, and this is what the board of directors is coming to grips with," he said, adding that some members of the board are posing similar concerns and a "strategic review of all the foundation's programs is underway."

But he explained that the dollars raised for the different programs run by the foundation can't just be converted into scholarships.

"For example, we'll go out and raise money specifically for Blueprint for the Future [a career fair held in different locations across Canada each year] or for our other programs, so you can't really redirect those funds to scholarships."

He said the money raised for the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards actually underwrites the administrative costs of running the scholarship program.

"That allows 100 per cent of all of the corporate government sponsorships that we receive for scholarships to go directly to the recipients without any administrative overhead," Shead said.

"Quite frankly, we see a great deal of value in the show. Not only do we raise money for some of our administrative overhead, but it is an opportunity to showcase Aboriginal talent and to support Aboriginal people involved in the arts in terms of what goes on in the show. And that may be a little bit more expensive than putting on other shows, I don't know... but the observations that you've just made when you look at the gross figures and the effort that's represented by putting on the National Aboriginal Achievement Awards show, is it something that the foundation will continue? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe there is a better way of doing it, and we are certainly going to be reviewing that as part of our strategic review."

Martin may be calling for a review of his own. He is a member of the government operations committee, an oversight committee for foundations that recently reviewed the millions of dollars in spending by Governor General Adrienne Clarkson.

Martin said he would personally call for a comprehensive review and audit of the budget and estimates of the Aboriginal Achievement Foundation when that ommittee convenes.

Bill Shead said Pat Martin need look no farther than an evaluation that was recently done by an independent auditor with the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs.

"We just went through a comprehensive review by the government of Canada, and I've seen a copy of the report and as I recall the report was quite positive and quite laudatory about the work of the foundation."

Alberta Sweetgrass attempted to get a copy of the document in question, but Indian and Northern Affairs Canada would not make it public. The department's communication spokesperson stressed, however, that it was not an audit, but an evaluation of the foundation, though she was not able to address what were the differences between the two categories.

"I know that whatever criticisms have been directed at the foundation over the past number of years, they have not gone unregistered by the people who are involved. We are aware of them and over the next little while we will be coming to grips with them. We have been coming to grips with them, and over the next little while we will resolve them, and I think that you will see, in the very near future, a slightly different National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation than what we have been involved in over the past few years."

One big change for the foundation took effect on Feb. 23. John Kim Bell, though he remains as founding president and executive director of the achievement awards show, is no longer in charge of the day-to-day operations of the foundation. He is replaced by interim executive director Deanie Kolybabi.

"John Kim came to the board with a concern that he would like to reduce his workload, and over a period of several weeks we had a discussion as to what those arrangements might be. And we came to a mutual conclusion that this would work for him and for the foundation," said Shed.

He said that with the steady growth of the foundation, Bell had found the responsibilities getting too much for him; tha he was starting a family with his new wife and would like to pursue other opportunities.