Indian Affairs conducts first ever poll on reserve

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They say opinions are like . . . uh, elbows, because everybody's got one. But up until this past August no government pollster had ever checked to see what the folks on the rez had to say.

Now the government of Canada has recorded and analyzed the opinions of 1,427 people who told telephone interviewers they are members of First Nations who live on reserve.

The results were leaked to the Globe and Mail in time to be reported in a front page story on Oct. 30, then "shared" with the Assembly of First Nations later that day and made widely available to the rest of the country after that.

Mainstream reports focused on a couple of statistics that fit with no difficulty into the government's policy on First Nations issues.

"Self government is seen as the least important factor in improving the standard of living of First Nations people on reserve," the poll stated.

"Only 53 per cent of Natives support self-rule-poll," the Globe and Mail headline read.

The poll was conducted Aug. 7 to 20, during the "cooling off period" that Indian Affairs Minister Robert Nault agreed to observe after the Assembly of First Nations chiefs changed their minds and decided not to boycott his governance consultations. The department of Indian Affairs, in partnership with the Canada Information Office and EKOS Research Associates, Inc., conducted what the government says is the very first poll of First Nations people.

EKOS submitted its report on the data to the strategic planning section of Indian Affairs' communications branch on Oct. 5. The 71-page report breaks the data down into two main areas: 1) conditions on reserve, and 2) "optimal methods of communication from the government of Canada."

During a conference call press conference with members of the Aboriginal press on Oct. 30, reporters' questions revealed the suspicion that it wasn't a coincidence the poll provided ammunition for the minister as he attempts to force changes to the Indian Act on First Nation leaders.

John Bray, director general for communications with Indian Affairs, was peppered with questions about the poll's findings. He was asked who decided to conduct the poll and why it was conducted at that particular time.

"It was a decision that was undertaken here at the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development," he responded. "Why at that time? That's kind of when it all fell together. It had been in the planning stages in earnest I suppose since the spring but it takes time to develop the questions, have them approved, have everybody's input, work with other departments and then go out and actually conduct the survey."

Approved by whom, he was asked.

"Approved by senior management in the department," he said.

Asked if it would be fair for some observers to suggest that conducting and releasing a poll that supports the government's position might be seen as an attempt at manipulation of public opinion against the First Nation leadership, Bray said the poll reported good and bad news for the department.

"I would only say that indeed some of the results from the survey reinforce the direction that the government has taken. But if you look at the survey as a whole, we're not holding anything back here. There are some negative views expressed on level of service by government," he said. "So we recognize we have some areas we have to work on but we released the entire thing in the interests of transparency. I take your point, some may say. But I would say it reinforces the direction of the government."

The top man in the Indian Affairs communication team said the poll information would be used to help the government of Canada improve its performance and not to depict First Nations people in a certain way.

"I don't know that it's for portraying. It's for reaching," he said Bray.

Mainstream media reports focused on the poll's findings that grassroots people aren't as concerned with self government as First Nation leaders, but weren't so quick to report hat 60 per cent of poll respondents said increasing the amount of lands and resources available to First Nations would improve their standard of living. Sixty-nine per cent said increasing the level of education was the most important; improving access to community services (67 per cent) was next; reducing alcohol and drug abuse followed (63 per cent).

Bray said the poll needs to be followed up in order to give the findings context. He also admitted that the results were open to question because they were gathered before the terrorist attack on the United States on Sept. 11.

"That's exactly one of the reasons why we need to go back. Don't forget this survey was conducted between Aug. 7 and 20, prior to the events in the states Sept. 11. Who's to say what the level of confidence or optimism is on anybody's part," he said.

Many observers were surprised by the level of optimism poll subjects showed when asked about their economic prospects. Bray said the promises made in the Throne Speech may account for that finding but he wasn't sure.

"We don't know for sure what the reason is behind that high level of optimism. And we need to find out," he said.

Ken Deer, publisher of Kahnawake's Eastern Door newspaper, suggested one reason for the optimism.

"Sometimes it's conditions are so bad there's only one way and that's up. You have to be optimistic or you can't survive," he said.