Dismal graduation numbers recipe for disaster

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Just under 16 per cent of Canadian children-more than one million-live in poverty. Among Aboriginal children living off-reserve, that percentage jumps to 40 per cent.

These staggering figures are only part of the story told by a recent report by Campaign 2000, a non-partisan organization formed in 1991 to build public awareness and support in the fight to eliminate child poverty and to remind all elected officials of their responsibility in that fight.

One Million Too Many-Implementing Solutions to Child Poverty in Canada-2004 Report Card on Child Poverty in Canada, was released on Nov. 24, the 15th anniversary of the unanimous all-party resolution in the House of Commons to eliminate child poverty by the year 2000.

The report states that not only is the government not making significant progress in reaching its goal, it is actually losing ground.

After five straight years of declining numbers, the poverty rate among children actually increased in 2002. And, despite a commitment to deal with the problem from all parties at the federal level, the number of children in poverty is higher now than it was in 1989 when the resolution was passed.

While the Campaign 2000 report card doesn't give the federal government high marks, the government itself doesn't rate its performance much higher when it comes to meeting its commitment to Canada's Aboriginal people. In Canada's Performance 2004, released by the Treasury Board on Dec. 2, the government admits it has made some progress addressing the socio-economic problems facing Aboriginal people, but much more remains to be done. Some suggest a greater commitment to Aboriginal education.

The number of Aboriginal people graduating from high school has increased but is still far below the numbers for non-Aboriginal people. According to the report, 58 per cent of First Nations people age 20 to 24 living on reserve and 41 per cent off reserve haven't completed high school. Thirty-two per cent of Metis people and 54 per cent of Inuit people in that age group don't have their high school diplomas.

There is no quick fix to the problem of child poverty in Canada, but according to Peter Dinsdale, ensuring children get a good education is an important part of the solution. Dinsdale is executive director of the National Association of Friendship Centres, one of the partners in Campaign 2000.

Dinsdale calls the low levels of education attainment among Aboriginal people an epidemic, and questions the government's lack of commitment to do something about it.

"There's virtually no action on a national basis to help our kids finish high school and to give them a meaningful start to address child poverty in a generational way. And that's the kind of stuff that has to occur," he said.

"With our kids, I mean, they aren't even graduating from high school. So where are they going to be 10 years from now? And they're going to start to have kids. And what kinds of conditions are those kids going to be living in? I believe the greatest thing we can do is make sure our kids finish high school. And that will give them such a heads up."

Dinsdale questions the way the government funds education programs, with the vast majority of the dollars allocated to education going to on-reserve programs, when more than 68 per cent of all Aboriginal people live off reserve.

"I'm not debating the amount that the reserves need," Dinsdale said, "but there obviously needs to be a great investment in resources in urban communities as well."

As stated in a report released by Auditor General Sheila Fraser on Nov. 23, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has dropped the ball when it came to providing education to First Nations people. It will take 28 years to close the education gap that exists between First Nation people living on reserve and the Canadian population as a whole.

"Everyone knows that Aboriginal kids aren't graduating from high school," said Dinsdale.

"Everyone knows hat one in four kids is poor in this country, and four in 10 Aboriginal kids live in poverty. It's not news and it's not sexy to the Canadian public anymore, so it doesn't get the press it deserves," he said.

"And again, not to be too idealistic, but I think this really goes beyond polling numbers and what's sexy with the public and what the media is willing to print... When you consider that over half of all Aboriginal people live in urban centres, half of all our people are under the age of 25, and half of all our people don't graduate from high school, that's a recipe for disaster. And if not now, then when? I don't know."

Among the recommendations made in the report to improve the situation for Canada's working poor is a call for an effective child benefit system, with an increase in the benefits available per child, and an end to the practice of denying federal child benefits to families receiving social assistance. It also speaks to the need for a strong, universal system of early learning and child care, something the federal and provincial government's have committed to do through their Multilateral Framework on Early Learning and Child Care announced last year, with a $2.2 billion commitment over five years. Such a system would provide children with learning opportunities early in life and parents with child care so they can work or attend training to increase their employment options.