Downside to feds' sponsorship woes

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The shock waves generated by the federal sponsorship scandal have spread across the government, and the result has been funding cuts for First Nation institutions, says Mark Green, the chairman of the board for the First Nation Technical Institute (FNTI).

Green said it's ironic that when government officials siphon millions of dollars out of the public purse, it's Aboriginal people that suffer the financial consequences.

"It is an unfortunate downside of that scandal that certainly doesn't hit the mainstream. The negative consequences affecting legitimate organizations, certainly we're one that's feeling it quite significantly."

Located on the Tyendinaga Mohawk Territory near Kingston, Ont., FNTI opened its doors in 1985. It is the oldest Aboriginal post-secondary institution in Ontario and one of the largest in Canada, having produced 2,000 grads in its 20-year history, 1,400 coming in the last five years.

When the school opened, 90 per cent of its funding was provided by Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC). By last year, that number had dropped to 43 per cent. As the start of this fiscal year approached, FNTI was told that it would receive just $500,000 of its existing $2.7 million in INAC funding. And the bureaucrats wanted FNTI's administrators to use $60,000 of that to produce a business plan that would show how they planned to survive and grow.

Green said INAC officials explained the sponsorship scandal led to a review of Treasury Board funding authorities and to cuts to FNTI's funding. He said he's been told that federal officials are unwilling to stick their necks out on any anything for fear of being criticized by Auditor General Sheila Fraser. Her report on the federal sponsorship program brought the government to the brink of a new election. "Unfortunately the federal government has become hamstrung and ineffective because of it," said Green. "Certainly what was done in that was completely inappropriate. But what it has done is that every other little thing that was done for good reason and with good public policy in mind is now also hampered if it lies one iota outside of a strict interpretation of policy," he said. "I think everybody knows that one normally exercises good judgement in making decisions and even if something might be slightly outside the boundary of a rule, if it is the right thing to do you try to find some way to make it happen."

Green pointed out that most Treasury Board authorities are created for mainstream institutions and rarely take into account the unique needs of First Nation institutions.

Those unique needs were set out by Fraser in a report of INAC's handling of First Nations higher education. She said that if things do not change in the way INAC operates in regard to its education programs, it will take more than 20 years for Aboriginal students to catch up to their mainstream counterparts.

A review of post-secondary education in Ontario conducted by former Ontario premier Bob Rae gives a nod of approval to Aboriginal-run education facilities.

"I was impressed with the work being done by the Aboriginal institutes, which work on reserves. They receive very little support from the province. They should not be seen as competitors to the existing system but as legitimate agencies of collaboration and partnership," Rae wrote.

"All Ontarians have to understand what is at stake. We cannot allow another generation to grow up in the province without the strong support of higher education. If this is allowed to happen, the whole province will be worse off. If we chart a different and better course, we shall all be the beneficiaries."

At the Canada-Aboriginal roundtable on April 19, 2004, even the prime minister promised his support of Aboriginal post-secondary institutions, using the First Nations University of Canada in Saskatchewan as a model. But FNTI is still facing a 50 per cent cut this year, in the face of which the board announced blanket layffs that would have begun in March. The FNTI also talked publicly of closing the institution's doors rather than offer a pale imitation of previous courses.

Government reacted by finding another million dollars to top off the $500,000 originally promised, so the board rescinded the layoff notices.

Green said the government's disconnect between what it says and what it does is confusing. His school has been cited as a success story in INAC promotional material.

"They're saying we're doing the right thing, and even at the minister's level they're saying they want to support us. So it is a little mysterious in that regard because we constantly get mixed messages," he said.

"FNTI is doing exactly what the government has said it would like to do and we really are a success story in Aboriginal education. And I think we can do a lot, but we need the appropriate resources and finances."