Social assistance adjustments coming

The road to poverty may get shorter for on-reserve First Nations people throughout the country. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development is working to ensure its 47-year-old income assistance policy remains in force.

The policy sets on-reserve income assistance rates comparable to the province in which the reserve is located. Right now, the provincial government is starting to slash welfare payments in New Brunswick, so enforcement of the federal policy has New Brunswick chiefs worried.

Chief George Ginnish of Eel Ground First Nation said unemployment is more than 50 per cent in some of the communities in the province.

Ginnish said unemployment is quite high in his community in northern New Brunswick. He says families are going to have to make the brutal choice of whether to pay the rent or put food on the table.

First Nations in New Brunswick have filed an application for a judicial review to stop the federal government from slashing social assistance rates. The government has been trying to slide in its enforcement of the social assistance policy since earlier this year.

“Over the past six, seven months, when some of our member communities [Assembly of First Nations Chiefs in New Brunswick], were in negotiations with ANAC for new funding agreements for this April, there were rumblings that there were going to be changes to the social development program,” said Ginnish.

The changes to social assistance were not made clear before the negotiations. His community had been on one-year funding arrangements over the past several years. It was only this past year that a four-year agreement was inked.

He also says the policy was never clearly discussed with chief or council of Eel Ground First Nation.

Not only that, Ginnish said the department didn’t adequately consult any of the First Nations in New Brunswick.

Last April, the Assembly of First Nations’ Chiefs in New Brunswick sent a letter to ANAC expressing concern over the cuts. The letter also points out the drastic cut to rates.

“...the single adult rate will decline sharply, from the current $1,100 per month to the $537 per month currently allowed provincial recipients.” The letter goes on, “The stated objective of the federal government is to move to a ‘work-oriented’ social welfare policy, and they cite the discrepancy between provincial rates and rates on First Nations as providing a disincentive to work on First Nations.”

Chief Ginnish is troubled because the reality is it’s hard to send people to work when there is little in the way of jobs. In Eel Ground First Nation, Statistics Canada indicates unemployment rates are 34.8 per cent, while the unemployment rate for the rest of the province sits at 10 per cent.

“This is only going to make it extremely difficult on the poorest of the poor in our communities because there is no work available here, other than seasonal employment,” Ginnish said.

Government information sessions occurred early this fall. Government sent notices out to chiefs inviting them to attend information sessions to learn about the social assistance changes.

“It’s absolutely disturbing that there hasn’t been a sit down or consultation,” said Ginnish. “There was one letter after the fact saying the policy change would be difficult, but, we’ll work with you to make this happen... It’s ass-backwards.”

“From what we know of the rates, New Brunswick has one of the lowest social assistance rates in the country, and the program isn’t working for the residents of New Brunswick, so, I don’t know how they would expect they would know how it would work for us, especially if it’s piecemealed,” said Ginnish.

As far as Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development is concerned, it will be aligning all First Nation social welfare policies with that of the provinces. An email from the department states, “The policy of ensuring that First Nations receive income assistance rates that are comparable to those which provinces provide to those off reserve has been in effect since 1964 and thus represents the policy of successive federal governments.”

The department also states regional variances in program delivery have been identified and corrections are being made to ensure a national consistency for the on-reserve income assistance program. The department also notes, “We realize that a limited transition period is required for First Nations.”

The department has also indicated it’s working with First Nation in the Atlantic region and the Atlantic Policy Congress “to develop an implementation plan that will transition First Nations communities to comparable rates.”

The chiefs in New Brunswick are well aware of the changes, but some leaders in other parts of the country are not. In Ontario, Batchewana First Nation Chief Dean Sayers was surprised to learn that changes could be coming to align social assistance rates with the province.
It’s a policy First Nations should be concerned about, considering the high rate of unemployment. A scan of Statistics Canada combined with other provincial sources, the First Nations unemployment rate across the country hovers around 15 per cent, compared to the national average of 7.3 per cent. That’s double the national average.