PACC Committee Report

GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE FIRST REPORT OF THE

STANDING COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC ACCOUNTS

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has received and begun to take action based on the recommendations of both the Standing Committee on Public Accounts and the Auditor General of Canada regarding the Department’s elementary-secondary education program.  The Department is working with its partners to address the issues raised in both reports, as well as their specific recommendations.  Joint action plans have been developed at the regional level through a collaboration between departmental officials and First Nations.

The Standing Committee on Public Accounts has expressed concern about the state of elementary and secondary education for First Nations, and the observed gap in educational achievement between on-reserve students and the overall population of Canadian students.  The Committee also stated its expectation that the Department rapidly demonstrate real progress in the resolution of the issues identified by the Auditor General of Canada in his April 2000 Report on Elementary-Secondary Education.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has acknowledged the importance of the many issues in First Nation education raised by the Auditor General, and for which the Standing Committee on Public Accounts has recommended remedial action.  As the Auditor General observed, these problems are of long standing and, while the educational attainment of First Nation students who live on reserve has increased measurably, the gap in outcomes between such students and the Canadian average remains wide.  While the proportion of the on-reserve population with at least a high school diploma increased from 31 percent in 1991 to 37 percent in 1996, 65 percent of the Canadian population had at least a high school education in 1996.  In the brief time between the release of the Auditor General’s Report in April and the issuance of the Committee’s report in June 2000, the Department initiated a process to work with First Nations, both nationally and regionally, to address these issues.  The specific recommendations and time lines put forward by the Committee further reinforced the work which was already underway.

The education of First Nation students who live on reserves in Canada is seen by First Nations as critical to the development of strong communities and economies, and as central to their cultural integrity.  The Department has been committed for almost 30 years to the principle of “Indian Control of Indian Education”, which was first outlined by the then National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations, or AFN) in 1971, and remains the foundation of the First Nations’ approach to education.  The First Nation position was reinforced and elaborated by the AFN in their four-year review of education, which culminated in the 1988 report Tradition and Education: Towards a Vision of Our Future.  Gathering Strength - Canada’s Aboriginal Action Plan, released in 1998, also represented a strong commitment by the Government of Canada to partnership with Aboriginal people and governments.  To be true to these commitments, the Department must engage the full partnership of First Nations to develop and implement any changes in the education program.

Accepting the principle of “Indian Control of Indian Education”, the Department’s role in education ranges from direct delivery of education services to government-to-government relationships, in the case of First Nations with self-government agreements in place.  At the present time, the Department’s role is one of support for First Nations in the delivery of education to First Nation learners.  The practical implications can vary according to the needs and desires of particular communities.   In accordance with the Committee’s recommendation, and that of the Auditor General, the Department with the collaboration of First Nations will provide a statement of its role and responsibilities in First Nation education by the end of June 2002.

The Auditor General placed particular emphasis on the need for urgency in addressing the gap in educational attainment between students living on reserve and all Canadian students, saying that “Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, together with First Nations and based on the needs and aspirations of First Nations, should develop and implement an action plan with targets to close the education gap, without delay.”  The first concrete action of the Department was the convening of a national meeting regarding First Nation education, which was organized at the end of May, 2000 to bring together First Nation representatives and senior departmental officials from across the country to focus on issues raised by the Auditor General and to develop a vision of First Nation education.

Clarification of roles, accountability, jurisdiction, and capacity-building were discussed, and there was a commitment to the joint development of regional action plans to address all four issues.  Both the Department and First Nation representatives agreed that action plan development must be at the regional level, and regional discussions began almost immediately.  Concrete steps will result from the action plans in order to improve education for First Nation students.  As part of this process, each region will develop time lines to advance considerations of accountability mechanisms.

The overall strategy for addressing the education gap will proceed along two tracks.  In the short term, efforts are being directed at the regional action plans, the development and use of appropriate performance indicators and comparative cost information, and improved integration of the federal government’s work on children and education issues to maximize the educational benefit to First Nations children.  Over the long term, the Department will be working towards the transfer of jurisdiction for education to First Nations, which is already occurring in the context of self-government negotiations and education-specific agreements such as the Mi’kmaq Education Agreement.

As was noted in the Department’s response to the AG Report, many initiatives are already under way that are expected to have an impact on education outcomes for on-reserve students.  Education reform is a key initiative of Gathering Strength - Canada’s Aboriginal Action Plan.  Since it was implemented in 1998, there have been over 320 projects initiated with the aim of improving the quality of education in First Nation schools and the academic achievement of First Nation students.  Four priority areas under which initiatives can be supported were approved by the AFN’s Chiefs Committee on Education:

·        strengthening management and governance capacity;

·        improving the quality of classroom instruction;

·        increasing parental and community involvement in education; and

·        aiding the school-to-work transition for First Nation youth.

In 2001-2002, investment in education reform is $50 million, an increase of $10 million over the previous year, and $40 million more than the first year of the program.   In its first year, the majority of projects were small and involved single schools.  By the second year (1999-2000), there was a significant shift in the utilization of resources to long-term strategic initiatives designed to serve both students in First Nation schools and students enrolled in provincial schools.  An information sheet on these initiatives is posted on the Department’s website (www.inac.gc.ca).

Of the themes identified in the use of the education reform funding, the two receiving the largest investments in 1999-2000 are both clearly related to the recommendations of the Committee.  Nationally, 35 percent of funds were applied to projects to support building institutional and governance capacity in First Nation education, such as the development of regional First Nation organizations that serve many communities and schools and assume functions fulfilled by school districts, boards, and even provincial and territorial Ministries of Education.  A further 25 percent of the national allocation is being invested in a variety of student retention and achievement strategies.  These projects directly address the “education gap” issue, and there is regular reporting on the education reform projects.

Eight of the Committee’s 12 recommendations include a provision that the Department provide reports of its progress in its Departmental Performance Report, beginning with the fiscal year ending March 31, 2001.  The Department agrees that specific reporting with respect to education needs to be improved.  The Departmental Performance Report, however, does not provide for as much specific or detailed reporting on a single program as has been contemplated by the Committee, nor is it a document which is likely to receive distribution or attention within the education community or First Nation communities.  To ensure that there is a comprehensive report card on education of First Nation students, the Department will begin for the fiscal year 2002-2003 to publish a biennial report for First Nation education.

This report will provide a clear record of progress in closing the education gap between the on-reserve student population and the overall Canadian student population.  Specific indicators of performance and academic achievement to be included will need to be discussed with First Nation educators; but, in order to maximize comparability among student populations, work will be based on education indicators developed and reported by Statistics Canada and the Council of Ministers of Education Canada.  Over time, the biennial report will allow a clear assessment of the progress in improving education outcomes for First Nation students.  It will also provide an opportunity to highlight some of the many successes being achieved by communities and regions, and a means to communicate results to parents, educators, and other interested parties.  The biennial report will contribute to the Government’s overall effort to demonstrate increased accountability for results to Canadians.  Key performance indicators from the report on First Nation education will be included in the Departmental Performance Report, also beginning for the year 2002-2003.

The Committee, following from the Auditor General’s comments on opportunities for improved operations in Elementary and Secondary Education, made five recommendations related to the program’s funding framework.  In renewing the program authority for education which will be completed by fall 2001, the Department is examining the same issues - performance and results indicators, comparable cost information, funding formulas, funding arrangements, and consulting and monitoring mechanisms to support accountability.

The Committee’s final recommendation was directed generally to all departmental funding arrangements, not just those related to education.  It relates to public disclosure of elements of First Nation financial statements that relate to the receipt and disposition of public funds.  The same recommendation was made in the Committee’s Second Report in 1999.  In May 2001, The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development announced that public funds will be reported separately in an audited schedule which will form part of the First Nations annual consolidated financial statements.  This schedule will be made available to the public, in order to provide greater transparency and accountability.  This respects the provisions of the federal court “Montana decision” of 1988, which ruled that First Nation consolidated financial statements are exempt from release to the general public because of the proprietary or third-party financial information they contain.