Aboriginal peoples study reveals need for funding review

A survey that takes a snapshot of urban Aboriginal life across the country is sparking a dialogue about issues that impact the success of First Peoples in Canada’s city centres.

The Urban Aboriginal Peoples Study, which was released April 6 by the Environics Institute, involved person-to-person interviews with 2,614 First Nations, Métis and Inuit people conducted in Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Montreal, Toronto, Halifax and Ottawa.

Data gathered between March and October 2009 was designed to capture the values and experiences of the urban Aboriginal population. The president of the Environics Institute has said the study was done with the intention of sharing information in order for people to better understand one another.

The influential role of friendship centres in the life of an urban Aboriginal was one of the key findings. Forty-two per cent of those surveyed considered friendship centres as the most useful Aboriginal service or organization.

The finding may come as no surprise to those who are aware of the various programs and resources that the centres provide. However, the statistic is something the National Association of Friendship Centres hopes will help draw attention to the lack of funding that is available to the 121 organizations that operate under the friendship centre umbrella.

“The reality is, in 1996 the federal government did an expenditure review and cut 25 per cent of funding,” said association executive director Peter Dinsdale. He said $16.1 million a year of federal dollars is allocated to fund all of the friendship centres across the country, and that annual amount has not increased within the past 14 years.

“We are at the exact same level today. It hasn’t grown with inflation. It hasn’t grown with new projects. It hasn’t grown at all. There has been zero per cent growth.”

Dinsdale is hopeful that the results of the study will shake up the status quo and encourage decision makers to re-evaluate.

Friendship centres were first created in the 1950s as a facility that helped improve the quality of life of Aboriginal people who began moving to urban centres in great numbers.  Everything from shelter services and cultural integration programs are a large part of the resources friendship centres provide their communities.
Dinsdale explained that the association’s goal is to open more friendship centers in areas that are in need of their services. A task that is challenging when there are locations that are treading water just to keep their doors open.

“We have friendship centres getting $85,000 a year,” explained Dinsdale. “For that, they have to hire an executive director, a bookkeeper, a receptionist and keep that place open for the year,” said Dinsdale, who is based in Ottawa.

Employment and health centres followed closely behind friendship centers in the survey for most utilized Aboriginal organizations, with 37 per cent and 25 per cent, respectively. Employment and health services are commonly available at the majority of friendship centres.
A place where urban Aboriginals can be welcomed without judgment is perhaps just as valuable today as it was 60 years ago.

The study also reported that almost all of the Aboriginals surveyed believed they are consistently viewed negatively by non-Aboriginals. Thirty per cent said they were perceived as lazy, while 20 per cent experienced stereotypical judgments of poverty and a lack of intelligence.

Estella Muyinda, executive director of the National Anti-Racism Council of Canada, didn’t need to hear details in order to support the study findings.

“Aboriginal people feel that way because it is true,” said Muyinda. “Canadians have not put a lot of effort into addressing the discrimination against Aboriginal people.”

Muyinda strongly believes that all branches of the Canadian government must do more in terms of providing additional educational programs to young Canadians in order for the cycle of racism to stop.
As executive director for the Toronto-based organization, Muyinda recounted several stories about how urban Aboriginals continually suffer the consequences of prejudice.

Blogs she has found on the Internet are filled with hate towards Aboriginals and even go so far as to promote their destruction, and blogs are only one of the tools used to spew racism.

“It’s really, really wrong knowing the history of Aboriginal people, knowing how many kids have killed themselves because of this dysfunction that has been allowed to continue by our government,” said Muyinda.

The council is a community-based network that strives to stand up against all forms of discrimination. The team of board members includes representatives from various ethnic organizations, including Ka Ni Kanichihk Inc, a non-profit Aboriginal resource centre based in Winnipeg.

According to Muyinda, a thorough education curriculum for children about the history of Canada’s First Peoples is critical, along with an honest admission that discrimination is a hurdle that is present in various areas of life, including in the search for employment.
“Canada doesn’t like to talk about its racism,” said Muyinda.