Shannen's Dream lives on

In a “long overdue” move by the federal government, First Nation students are one step closer to receiving equal rights to quality education, according to Nickel Belt MP Claude Gravelle.

On March 5, the NDP introduced a motion that calls for the government to declare that First Nations students have an equal right to quality education, and to work with First Nations leaders on an action plan that ensures students on reserves receive a properly funded, culturally sensitive education.

That motion received unanimous support.

In the riding of Nickel Belt, there are four First Nations with thousands of First Nations residents, Gravelle said. The motion will lead to those First Nations receiving the same education funding as non-Native students, “which will certainly improve their chances of getting an education.”

Right now, First Nations receive about 30-35 per cent less funding that non-Native communities, Gravelle said.

“It's unfortunate it has taken so long for this to happen,” he said.

It's also unfortunate that First Nations communities have had to endure situations that would never be tolerated outside of those reserves, he said. The NDP motion is based on the principles of the Shannen’s Dream campaign, which was founded by the late Shannen Koostachin. The campaign is focused on ending the funding discrimination faced by First Nation schoolchildren across the entire country.

Koostachin spearheaded the fight to have First Nation children receive an education in clean, “comfy” schools just as non-Native children. Her school in Attawapiskat had been contaminated by a diesel spill in 1979 and was never properly cleaned. Despite the toxic risks and resulting illnesses, the school was kept in use, and was only closed when parents refused to enrol their children and teachers refused to work in the building.

Portable classes — with insufficient insulation and ventilation problems — were brought in as a stop-gap measure. Students would often have to wear winter jackets in the classroom.

Koostachin died in May 2010 in a car accident. The NDP launched Shannen's Dream in November of the same year.

Gravelle said her legacy will live on through this motion.

“After all the work and effort that’s been put into ending the shameful neglect of First Nations’ education, we are now one step closer to making Shannen’s Dream a reality,” Timmins-James Bay MP Charlie Angus said, in a news release. “It’s great to see that we have all parties finally agreeing on this motion — it is now up to the government to live up to the democratic will of the House and actually implement these principles as soon as possible. We cannot let another generation down by not acting.”

Posted by Arron Pickard