Budget didn't meet raised expectations

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After listening to two Throne Speeches with lots of promises about improving the quality of life for First Nations people, and then seeing the Minister of Indian Affairs talking about a budget speech that would be "just like Christmas," First Nations leaders say their expectations were high when Finance Minister John Manley entered the House of Commons on Feb. 18.

Minutes after Manley's budget speech concluded, however, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde told Windspeaker he wasn't too impressed.

Bellegarde was subbing for Assembly of First Nations National Chief Matthew Coon Come who was stranded in the United States by the severe winter storm that forced the cancellation of his flight back to the capital.

Maybe Santa Claus had been grounded, too, Bellegarde suggested.

"If it's going to be like Christmas Day then we should have our equitable share of the lands and resources, our own source of revenues coming in, resource benefit sharing. If it was Christmas Day, we'd have a treaty implementation process based on mutual respect and sharing of this land that we'd have with the newcomers here. If it was Christmas Day we'd have a strategy to deal with the high unemployment rate, the 90 per cent unemployment rate that plagues our people. If it was Christmas Day we'd have no over-crowding in our communities, the black mould issue, and there wouldn't be waiting lists for tuberculosis and diabetes [treatment] and everything that plagues our people," he said. "It's not Christmas Day."

Perry Bellegard said the chiefs still look at the report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) as the only blueprint for effective change for First Nations people and the budget fell far short of the recommendations in that report.

"If you go back to the RCAP recommendations, $1.5 billion per year for 10 years was a strategic investment," Bellegarde said in the foyer outside the House of Commons.

"Invest now for the future. We have a young population-the fastest growing segment of the population in Canada-and governments, both federal and provincial, have to start working with us, as First Nation community leaders, to bring about that change. What does it cost to keep a First Nations person in jail? What does it cost to keep a First Nations person on welfare? We'd rather invest in education and training and other programs."

He admitted that new monies had been mentioned in the budget speech, but he wondered if they'd make it to the grassroots people.

"There are some things they're doing for our young people, but will it be enough to address the need? That's the thing that we question," he said. "And how much of those new monies will actually flow out and filter out to the communities where they've got to get in order to bring about a change? That's what we question continually because there's so much bureaucracy in all these federal government departments. Those much-needed dollars never really get out to the communities. So we've got to design the programs together to make sure that they bring about change."

He said expectations were raised in the Throne Speech and then let down in the budget address.

"Expectations were definitely raised and we didn't see anything delivered in this budget. The Prime Minister had a prime opportunity now to try to help close that socio-economic gap that's so huge. There was a legacy of hope that people were planning on, but it looks more like a legacy of neglect. That's how we feel," he said.

When he did return to Ottawa, Coon Come said the $2.2 billion for First Nations and Aboriginal programs announced in the budget was welcome news, but it only begins to address the difficulties.

"There are huge holes in funding for health, housing and education," he said. "The $1.3 billion for health will barely cover projected deficits by Health Canada. How will we ever overcome our deplorable health status, ranked 63rd in the world? There is no extra fundng for the 10,000 First Nations high school graduates who want to go on to post-secondary education. There is no funding for the enormous backlog in First Nations housing. The huge socio-economic gap is not being addressed."

He echoed his Saskatchewan vice-chief's concerns about the bureaucratic erosion of funding.

"As in the past, the big challenge for any federal funding earmarked for First Nations is how much will actually trickle down to the people who need it. In some cases we only receive 20 per cent of the announced funds," said Coon Come. "So much is eaten up by red tape and bureaucracy at the federal level. I do applaud Minister Manley's vow to bring more accountability and transparency to the federal government."

One of the biggest allocations was to improve the state of First Nations' water supplies.

"The $600 million for water infrastructure over five years is much needed and very welcome, but it's a drop in the bucket when you consider 102 First Nations currently have boil water orders issued by Health Canada. Some have been boiling water for five years," Coon Come said. "The root cause of our Third World living conditions is the fact we sorely lack the basic infrastructure and housing that all Canadians currently enjoy."

Robert Nault, the minister of Indian Affairs, told Windspeaker no department gets everything it asks for in a budget, but he was satisfied that his government was living up to its Throne Speech promises.

Early in the budget speech, Manley said a full program review would be conducted. That left veteran Native analysts wondering if money will be taken from existing programs to meet the promises in the budget.