Education would solve aboriginal challenges, advocate Roberta Jamieson says

An investment in education will help turn around the fortunes of aboriginal communities and pay dividends for decades to come, says Roberta Jamieson, the CEO and president of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.

BRUCE CAMPION-SMITH/TORONTO STAR

OTTAWA—The key to solving the challenges facing Canada’s aboriginal communities is ensuring the education of their young people, a leading advocate says.

That’s why education must be the focus when Prime Minister Stephen Harper and senior cabinet ministers gather with First Nations leaders for a high-level summit on Tuesday, Roberta Jamieson, CEO and president of the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation.

An investment in education will help turn around the fortunes of aboriginal communities and pay dividends for decades to come, she said.

“These students are the change agents. I believe if we can support them, they will help us transform their communities and the country,” Jamieson said in an interview.

She is hopeful that the one-day “First Nations-Crown” meeting will produce tangible investments in aboriginal education to tackle the barriers that prevent students from finishing high school, let alone going to university.

“I am hearing very good signals at this point from this government and this prime minister,” said Jamieson.

“He can act and he must or it will be declared just another frustrating photo op,” she said.

Jamieson herself knows the value of an education. As a Mohawk, she was the first First Nations woman to earn a law degree. She went on to serve as ombudsman of Ontario and Chief of the Six Nations of the Grand River territory near Brantford.

Today she heads a foundation that seeks to promote post-secondary education for aboriginal youth through scholarships — $42 million to 11,500 students so far — in addition to holding career fairs. But the foundation is only to fund 20 per cent of the funding requests from aboriginal students

She said the aboriginal youth face great barriers to education — schools are in disrepair, there’s a lack of educational resources to support teachers, and for those students looking to attend university or college, there’s a lack of money.

“We’re the fastest growing demographic and least likely to get out of high school,” she said.

And she said that just 4 per cent of aboriginal youth get post-secondary degrees compared to 18 per cent in the broader Canadian population.

Those concerns were echoed by a Senate investigation that warned last month that “First Nations education is in crisis.”

It found that 70 per cent of students don’t graduate from high school. Most First Nations schools lack libraries, science labs and gyms, facilities that many other students take for granted.

“If we believe that education is a basic human right, then we are most certainly failing First Nations children,” the Senate report said.

Last summer, Jamieson floated a proposal with federal officials — if Ottawa pledged $50 million for aboriginal education, she would find corporate donations to match that sum.

“I think we’re at a point in the country right now where this government, First Nations leadership and certainly corporate leaders are ready to focus and invest in education,” she said.

Jamieson said all governments have to take the blame for the shortcomings in aboriginal education.

“I’ve seen every manner of party be in power in my time. . . . I have yet to see sustained, serious investment in closing the gap in education achievement for own young people,” she said.

“We’re squandering the potential of these young people every day that we don’t take action,” she said.