Nations continue to hold out on census

About 40,000 First Nations people have not been included in the latest Statistics Canada numbers that peg the country's Aboriginal population at 1.2 million.
"We question what the data is being used for," said Wahta Mohawk Chief Blaine Commandant.
The 200 people on the Wahta reserve, located 200 km north of Toronto, are among those not counted in the 2006 StatsCan census.
In total, 22 reserves across the country would not allow the federal agency on their land to conduct the census.
"We're respectful of the sovereignty of that First Nations community, that's why we ask permission," said Jane Badets, director of the social and Aboriginal division of Statistics Canada.
Wahta Mohawk was one of 10 reserves in Ontario and one of a number of Mohawk First Nations that wouldn't permit Statistics Canada to carry out its mandate.
"It wasn't a collective effort (by the Mohawk First Nations), but we are in communication with each other and we have common concerns with a lot of things the (federal) government does," said Commandant.
Those concerns are also felt in Alberta, where three First Nations didn't permit the census to be carried out.
"A mistrust in the use of information and the fear of manipulation of the information without consent" are two reasons that J.R. Giroux, economic development manager with Treaty 8 in Alberta, could offer. Little Buffalo First Nation, a member of Treaty 8, did not allow StatsCan to conduct its census. "There's a concern about the process of questions developed that will result in biased information being produced."
Without the 10 participating reserves, there were about 15,000 people not included in StatsCan's Ontario First Nation numbers of 158,395; in Alberta, the uncounted numbers translated to about 7,000, left off of StatsCan's First Nation numbers of 97,280.
Badets noted that considering the number of reserves in both provinces and the overall Aboriginal population count, the uncounted First Nations populations don't skew the information that can be extrapolated.
"It really means that at the community level there's no data," said Badets.
StatsCan carries out its census every five years and those figures provide a "snapshot over time of how communities have changed." Figures taken not only include population count, but education, income, and labor force representation.
Also having an impact on the overall Aboriginal population figure is the ability to count a mobile population. Because the Aboriginal population tends to be young, it also tends to be mobile. As well, counting the homeless in urban centres also proves to be difficult.
Through the implementation of Aboriginal liaison officers, training courses and information sessions, StatsCan works with Aboriginal communities both during the time of census and between census taking to determine community data needs; what kind of data communities would like to see obtained; and how the data can be used to get the information the community needs for its own planning purposes.
"We've been working outreach more positively for a number of years. We see better participation and more use of the information as well," said Badets.
However, Commandant doesn't anticipate Wahta First Nations will allow Statistics Canada onto the reserve anytime soon, although the federal agency has conducted its census there in the past.
"It's council's decision, but I think that the issues they have with the federal government haven't changed and probably won't change," said Commandant.
In 2001, 30 reserves did not participate in the census, considerably down from the 1996 figure of 77 reserves, which did not participate.
According to StatsCan's 2006 census figures, the Aboriginal population makes up 2.5 per cent of Canada's overall population.
The Aboriginal population is highest in Ontario, British Columbia and Alberta. However, the population trend indicates that by 2017, Alberta will overtake B.C. to become the province with the second highest Aboriginal population. The largest urban Aboriginal population resides in Winnipeg, with Edmonton being home to the second largest urban Aboriginal population.