Plan to aid Native, Inuit children announced

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The federal government has announced a commitment to ensuring healthier, more productive lives for Canadian children. Called Bright Futures, it is a series of steps aimed at achieving a better tomorrow for the nation's youth.

And that commitment extends to Native and Inuit children, as long as the Native children live on reserves.

Some $160 million of a total $500 million Child Development Initiative, introduced to reduce conditions of risk for Canadian children, is slated for aboriginal communities. The money will be meted out over the next five years, aiming to improve community mental health, including family breakdown and suicide; fund a variety of preschool and after-school reinforcement activities for children and to provide more support to communities affected by solvent abuse. Another $16.4 million will aim to reduce the rate of accidental injuries among status Indians on reserve and in Inuit communities and to promote a health babies and parenting program.

The government's statistics are frightening. More than half of Inuit children and children on reserves live in low-income households. More than one-third of registered Indians have less than a Grade 9 education, almost double the proportion of the Canadian population. The death rate due to injuries, poisoning and violence for Indian pre-school children is six times the comparable national rate. Indian and Inuit communities have very high rates of death and illness from unintentional injuries, violence and suicide. The rate of suicide among Indian adolescents is up to seven times the national rate, and the high rate among adolescent Aboriginal women, compared to other adolescent women, is a special concern.

The government is to be commended for recognizing the magnitude of the problem and trying to come up with some solution. It is unfortunate that this program will only help status Indians on reserve and the Inuit. Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Tom Siddon assured reporters at a press conference announcing Brighter Futures that aboriginal children in the cities and those who life off the reserve will be covered by the general program, instead of the component aimed specifically at status Indians.

This is reassuring, since only one-fourth of Canada's aboriginal people live on reserves. Just how much help Metis and non-status Native children will get remains to be seen. It is ironic that the federal government insists it cannot afford to assume fiduciary responsibility for three-quarters of the aboriginal population, yet Mr. Siddon's office saw nothing wrong with holding his press conference at Edmonton's elegant Hotel MacDonald, including an elaborate breakfast that went largely untouched. It is a minor expense in the face of huge government budgets, but how much would such minor expenses total if they were eliminated? And how many children could that money help?

Exactly how the new programs are to be set up has yet to be decided. They will

be community-based and controlled, appropriate to local requirements, circumstances and cultures. Obviously the government realizes Native people know what their problems are and how best to deal with them.

A final word from Minister of National Health and Welfare Benoit Bouchard, whose department launched the overall Brighter Futures Program, is a revelation of his patronizing attitude towards aboriginal peoples. "The Brighter Futures program builds

on the theme of partnerships and identifies solutions for children at risk at the community level. The Indian and Inuit component demonstrates that all children matter."

Indeed.