Out-of-date census figures mean less federal dollars for Métis programs

As long as federal funding does not reflect the true number of Métis residing in Alberta, Métis organizations will continue to lose out on important dollars.

“Alberta as a province holds the largest Métis population in the country. Therefore, when it comes to national funding formulas of any kind, it stands to gain the most, I suppose, when it comes to resource allocations,” Lorne Gladu, chief executive officer of Rupertland Institute, an affiliate of the Métis Nation of Alberta, recently told the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples.

The committee was in Edmonton late September as part of its two-week tour through the four western provinces and the Northwest Territories. The committee has been mandated with the task of examining the political and legal recognition of the collective identity and rights of Métis people in Canada.
Gladu said that the 1996 census is being used by the federal government to calculate the National Aboriginal Resource Allocation Model, although census figures from both 2001 and 2006 are available.

And according to those figures, the Métis population in Alberta doubled between 1996 and 2006, said Aaron Barner, MNA senior executive officer. Alberta’s Métis population is now at 85,000, although it is believed that number could be as high as 100,000 presently. That increase in self-identifying Métis population would mean an increase of $1 million annually in federal funding since 2004.

Edmonton has the second highest urban Aboriginal population in the country. Barner said that 55 per cent of the Aboriginal population in Edmonton is Métis.

“We failed to realize what could have been the final outcomes of the 2001 census data when it came to resource allocations to the Alberta Métis from 2006 onwards,” Gladu said.

He added that as long as the federal government continues to embrace its policy decision to implement NARAM according to 1996 census data, Métis in Alberta will continue to lose out.  He pointed to the inability of the MNA to negotiate funding with the newest census figures so programs, such as skills training and employment services that are funded through Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, are struggling to meet the needs of a larger Métis population.

“I would like to recommend that the committee insist that the federal government apply 2006 census data or the most recent census data as it applies to any national funding formula, in this case, to the National Aboriginal Resource Allocation Model,” said Gladu.

Barner added that Métis should be eligible for federal funding for educational programs in the same manner that First Nations and Inuit are and that the federal government should provide debt forgiveness for Métis who need loans to pursue post-secondary education.

At present, the MNA has $13.5 million in endowment funds established with nine post-secondary institutions in Alberta to help finance Métis students in their first years of education. The endowment funds are a combination of federal dollars matched by provincial dollars, which are at the request of the post-secondary institutions. The MNA hopes to establish endowment funds with all 26 post-secondary institutions in Alberta. By 2015 the MNA wants to have $20 million in endowments in place for Métis students.

Caption:Lorne Gladu (left) and Aaron Barner addressed the Standing Senate Committee on Aboriginal Peoples about Métis concerns.