Statement made on 11 June 2009 by Senator Lillian Eva Dyck
Senator Dyck:
Welcome. It is a great pleasure to have you here today.
I will not ask you questions about bills or legislation or about section 35 and section 74 of the various acts. The pieces of legislation that we have, such as the Indian Act, are reflections of what our society thinks and believes. The Indian Act was enacted because, at that time, society believed that Indian people were inferior. It was discrimination. They were trying to convert us into something else. Things have changed, and it is good to see progress.
Mr. Fontaine, you were talking about the number of First Nations and Metis students who are graduating and getting advanced education.
I have two short stories to relate to you that disturb me. First, I was at an Aboriginal Human Resource Council meeting in Vancouver two months ago. There were 100 hand-picked Aboriginal post-secondary graduates. If you talked to them personally, you would find out that a lot of them are still facing discrimination. Some are being told, as I was told 30, 40, 50 years ago, ``You have it made. You are a woman. You are an Aboriginal. You are a visible minority.'' That is the cultural attitude of mainstream society that some of our younger people are still facing. This is disturbing because, as you pointed out Chief Fontaine, the Aboriginal population, Metis and First Nation, is primarily young. We are seeing its growth. It is important that these young people be afforded the greatest opportunities and be supported in the best possible ways.
Second, in the local Saskatoon paper, it was reported — and this is a true story — that a couple was donating half a million dollars to the College of Nursing at the university. However, the couple said, ``We do not want any scholarship to go to an Aboriginal student because Aboriginals have got it made.'' How do we combat that attitude? What do we do? What kind of programming do we establish? What can the government do to change the way society thinks? I think most of our society is on side, but we have pockets of people who are outright racist. We have pockets of people who do these things out of ignorance because they do not know our story. What do you think the solutions might be?
Mr. Fontaine: There is no easy answer to what is a very difficult question.
It is sad to hear these stories about our young people. Maybe some of these people are not so young, but our people are being discriminated against as too many of our people were discriminated against years ago. Some of it has to do with discriminatory funding issues — that is, the way our governments are funded in regard to our education students.
I cannot say that the numbers I quoted are absolutely precise, but we do know — and I made this point earlier; I hope that senators heard it — that we have had to contend with this 2 per cent cap since 1996. It is not just one government that is responsible for the imposition of this cap. It has been in existence for 13 years now and has caused all kinds of problems.
As far as what to do, there are two immediate solutions. First, it should be compulsory for high schools to teach a native studies course. Before one is able to graduate from high school, it would be mandatory for students to take a native studies course. Second, it should also be mandatory to take a native studies course prior to graduating from university with an undergraduate degree.
We have proposed to the Council of Ministers of Education in Canada that this innovation be introduced in all our universities and schools. It would do so much to build a good knowledge base of the true history of this country, including the place of the indigenous people in that history. It is true that a knowledge base would aid in developing a much better understanding of our peoples than exists today. That is why we end up with stories like the one you told us. It is the same as this myth that we get $10 billion a year. That is simply not true. What reaches our communities is $5.1 billion.
The rest is eaten up by provincial and territorial transfers and the maintenance of the public service. We have about 10,000 public servants who are dedicated to delivering programs and services to our people. We should dispel those myths, and one of the places where that ought to happen is in this place.
In my view, the most important vehicle for the kind of transformation that the honourable senator is talking about is the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is about the true history of Canada. It is about writing the missing chapter in Canadian history, and it is about our people. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission is about the residential school experience, but it is much more than only the experience; it is dealing with the attitudes. As the Prime Minister said last year, on June 11, the attitudes that resulted in the residential school experience have no place in this country.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission will continue for five years and we will all be afforded the opportunity to say our peace. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission process is a conversation not only with survivors but with all Canadians. This story is about Canada, and every person should avail themselves of this opportunity. It is important that we all make a contribution to the commission so that it becomes the kind of success we need it to be. I view the Truth and Reconciliation Commission as the most important vehicle for addressing the problem we spoke about here.