General

To: Canada

  1. In order to achieve equity for First Nations students, provide funding for education (on and off-reserve) that is sufficient to ensure that:
    1. First Nations schools on and off-reserve can provide the full range of programs and services that are available to non-Indigenous children in Ontario, including new and innovative programs and services.
    2. First Nations schools on and off-reserve can provide additional programs and services required as a result of the unique circumstances and challenges faced by First Nations students, their schools and their communities.
    3. The gap between educational outcomes for First Nations students and non-Indigenous students is substantially reduced every year, and completely eliminated in 10 years so that the next generation of First Nations children will have the same educational advantages as other children in Canada.
    4. First Nations students from remote communities receive the same educational advantages as other children in Canada regardless of where they are born, where their families choose to reside, and whether they attend school away from their home communities.
    5. All education decisions regarding First Nations children are made with the best interests of those children in mind.
  2. In order to improve education outcomes of First Nations youth, in consultation with First Nations education providers, provide sufficient funding and necessary resources to ensure that First Nations schools are able to:
    1. Develop and implement culturally appropriate curricula and programs. Staff hired for these programs should include on-site Elders; cultural and traditional land-based teachers; and after-school activity co-ordinators.
    2. Develop and implement languages curricula and programs (including individual courses and full/partial immersion).
    3. Assess and identify students with special education needs and provide the necessary supports to those students including, but not limited to, speech and language therapy; occupational and physical therapy.
    4. Create and implement safe school protocols.
    5. Decrease absenteeism by hiring a community-school liaison worker or having a community Elder attend at the homes of absent students to reinforce the importance of attending school and to encourage students and their families to make all efforts to attend school on a regular basis.
    6. Increase capacity in new and existing First Nation education institutions.
    7. Analyze current and historical education data as provided by First Nations and organizations designated by First Nations.
    8. Address and overcome the unique challenges facing First Nations students, schools, and communities (e.g. socio-economic disadvantage, remoteness and isolation, small school size, special needs incidence rates, population growth, etc.).
    9. Assess needs, develop estimates of cost, and develop processes for adjusting those costs over time to keep pace with inflation, education best practices and changes in legislation and student need.
    10. Educate students on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, then work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and Treaty Rights to strengthen the knowledge of students regarding their rights and protections.
  3. In order to encourage earlyprogress on structural reforms, Canada should immediately and publicaly commit to the funding criteria listed in recommendations 8 and 9 above, and incorporate that criteria into policy documents prior to March 31, 2017 (ie: the next fiscal year), including the Terms and Conditions and National Program Guidelines for the First Nations education programs.
  4. In order to ensure sufficient and stable funding for First Nations education, Canada and First Nations should jointly develop a new and fully transparent funding framework for First Nations education that is based on actual student needs and that ensures that recommendations 8 and 9 are achieved. Canada should provide funding for First Nations to participate as an equal partner in the development and ongoing assessment of this new funding framework.
  5. In order to remove impediments to sound planning and budgeting Canada should ensure that funding under the new framework will be provided via a stable and predictable mechanism that allows for long term strategic planning and discretionary decision making. Canada should cease the practice of providing funding for core or ongoing activities, services and expenses (e.g. salaries, travel, etc.) through proposal based funding.
  6. In order to ensure timely implementation of Recommendations 8 through 12, Canada should establish a joint First Nations working group that will determine agreed upon milestones and timelines such that a new funding framework and performance measurement and reporting protocol can be established within one year from the date of these recommendations.
  7. In order to promote funding sufficiency, Canada should fund an assessment of the financial cost of fully and adequately funding First Nations education, including the cost of achieving the above recommendations. Canada should provide funding for First Nations to participate as an equal partner in this needs assessment process. This assessment should be updated on a yearly basis in sufficient time for its results to be included in the federal budget. The assessment should be developed through a transparent process and the final report made public.
  8. Newly developed policies, as well as existing policies/procedures amended as a result of this inquest, should be reviewed annually to prevent equity and equality gaps in education, health and living conditions.

Access to funding, programs and services

To: Canada

  1. Establish and fund a Federal Advocate for First Nations Children and Youth to monitor the progress toward closing the outcome gaps between First Nations children and non-Indigenous children in areas such as education, health, economic well-being and social services and to report directly to Parliament on this progress on an annual basis. The office should also be mandated to assist First Nations in identifying and accessing programs, funding and services. In response to a request, a complaint, or on its own initiative, the Federal Advocate would act on behalf of concerns of Indigenous individuals, families, communities, or organizations and could initiate reviews, make recommendations, and provide advice to governments, facilities, systems, agencies, or service providers.

To: Ontario

  1. Work with Indigenous individuals, families, communities or organizations on identifying and, where appropriate, creating points of contact within the Ontario government to assist Indigenous communities in identifying and accessing Ontario programs, funding and services.

Programs and services for First Nations children and families – structural issues

Pre-school early childhood education

To: Canada

  1. Canada should develop and fund a program that will ensure that all First Nations pre-school age children have access to early childhood education programs to further their physical, social, emotional, spiritual, and cognitive development and to prepare them for kindergarten. Canada should develop this program jointly with First Nations and should provide funding for First Nations to participate in the development and ongoing assessment of the program as an equal partner.

Traditional activities

To: Canada

  1. Canada should fund and develop a program that will ensure that all First Nations children and youth have access to a robust offering of high-quality cultural and traditional activities and knowledge. These offerings should focus on developing important values such as self-esteem, cultural pride, resiliency, and leadership. Canada should develop this program jointly with First Nations (including youth and Elders) and should provide funding for First Nations to participate in the development and ongoing assessment of the program as an equal partner. The program should ensure comprehensive access for all First Nations children regardless of the communities they live in or the financial means of their parents.

Other extra-curricular activities

To: Canada

  1. Canada should fund and develop a program that will ensure that all First Nations children and youth have access to a robust offering of high-quality extra-curricular activities including traditional, cultural, recreational, academic, artistic, and athletic activities. The extra-curricular offerings should focus on developing important values such as self-esteem, cultural pride, resiliency, and leadership. Canada should develop this program jointly with First Nations (including youth and Elders) and should provide funding for First Nations to participate in the development and ongoing assessment of the program as an equal partner. The program should ensure comprehensive access for all First Nations children regardless of the communities they live in or the financial means of their parents.

To Canada and NAN:

  1. Canada should provide funding for NAN to develop a program for youth to receive leadership training so that they can run summer, evening and weekend activities for their peers.

Putting children first

To: Canada and Ontario

  1. Canada and Ontario should agree to the following principle: Where jurisdictional divisions within or between governments threaten to delay or impede the provision of services or funding for First Nations children that are available to other Canadian children, the federal or provincial government of first contact should provide the services or funding and may seek reimbursement after the fact. The services or funding should be provided without delay such that First Nations children, and the organizations that serve First Nations children, do not need to wait for the jurisdictional issue to be resolved.
  2. This principle should be applied to gaps in services and funding faced by the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council, such as operations and maintenance funding for its off-reserve schools, tuition for First Nations students living off-reserve, and so on.

Social determinants of health

To: Canada

  1. Canada and First Nations should develop and implement a comprehensive and holistic plan to close the outcome gaps between First Nations people and other Canadians. Canada should provide funding for First Nations to participate as an equal partner in the development and implementation of this plan, including through the participation of First Nations youth and Elders. The plan should involve the following elements:
    1. The identification of outcome gaps in areas such as health, economic wellbeing, social services, living conditions, and so on.
    2. The establishment of publicly reported targets and timelines for the elimination of those gaps.
    3. Annual reports to Parliament on the achievement of the targets and timelines for the elimination of health, economic, wellbeing, living conditions and social services gaps.
    4. The development of new funding mechanisms for programs for First Nations that are transparent and based on robust assessments of needs.
    5. The provision of sufficient funding to implement the plan in the various program areas and to ensure that the targets and timelines are met.
    6. The enactment of a statutory guarantee of funding sufficiency.
    7. A program to measure and report on progress in meeting those targets and to revise the plan if targets and not being met.
    8. A review of social programs in communities in other countries facing similar circumstances (e.g. socio-economic disadvantage, small communities, dispersed and isolated communities, distinct culture, etc.) to determine best practices regarding the framework and structure for program delivery.