Editorial - Politics by numbers

As any good statistician will tell you, numbers can be interpreted in a variety of ways, depending on just what point you want to use them to make. Take, for instance, the report released on Jan. 15 that provides a statistical snapshot of Canada's Aboriginal people based on the results of the 2006 census.
According to the report, Aboriginal Peoples in Canada in 2006: Inuit, Metis and First Nations, Canada's Aboriginal population grew by 45 per cent between 1996 and 2006. During that same time period, the non-Aboriginal population only increased by eight per cent. The numbers in the report also show that the Aboriginal population is younger than the non-Aboriginal population, with 48 per cent of the Aboriginal population in 2006 comprised of people 24 and under, while in the non-Aboriginal population, only 31 per cent of the population fell into this age range.
While these statistics may be new, the picture they paint of a young and quickly-growing Aboriginal Canada certainly isn't. For years, Aboriginal youth have been touted as "the fastest-growing demographic group in Canada". Aboriginal youth, it's been stated time and time again, are the answer to the labour shortage that will be caused as Baby Boomers across the country reach retirement age. It's a labour shortage everyone is expecting, and given the fact that there are so many young Aboriginal people in Canada today, and that the number of young Aboriginal people is expected to continue to increase, tapping into the Aboriginal youth labour pool makes a lot of sense.
Many organizations have already recognized that attracting Aboriginal youth today to prepare them to become tomorrow's workers is a smart thing to do. Unions have set up Aboriginal apprenticeship programs. Big businesses have set up summer training programs for Aboriginal youth. But when it comes to making sure the funds are there for Aboriginal students to pursue post-secondary education so they can be prepared to take advantage of the opportunities that the future holds, the federal government doesn't seem to read the same meaning into the numbers.
In 1996, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) instituted a two per cent cap on funding for core programs, including education, and that cap is still in place, despite repeat calls by Aboriginal leaders for funding to be increased. The Kelowna Accord was supposed to work to close the gap between Aboriginal Canada and non-Aboriginal Canada in a number of areas, including education attainment, but those plans died with a whimper following the last federal election.
Report after report has talked about the importance of investing in the educational futures of Aboriginal youth - about how such an investment will not only ease the coming labour shortage, but will also provide Aboriginal youth with a chance for a better standard of living and a better quality of life. But still, when it comes to its funding of Aboriginal education, the feds get a failing grade.
Another set of statistics included in the recent Stats Can report is also open to interpretation. For the glass half-full crowd, the 2006 statistics can paint a rosy picture on the housing front. Numbers in the report show that, between 1996 and 2006, the number of Aboriginal people living in crowded homes declined by six per cent. The glass half empty view of those same figures? The number of Aboriginal people living in a crowded home, at 11 per cent, was still almost four times the rate recorded among the non-Aboriginal community.
Want another example of how statistical interpretation is in the eye of the beholder? Again on the topic of housing, the 2006 census information indicates that the number of Aboriginal people living in homes requiring major repairs remained unchanged. On the surface, that stat would appear to be more neutral than positive or negative. Except when you consider that it means nearly 25 per cent of Aboriginal people in Canada live in substandard housing, and that the situation hasn't improved in more than a decade. Now that's a statistic the federal government should be proud of.