SASKATOON – The Saskatchewan Federation of Indian Nations (FSIN) remains opposed to a federal First Nations education bill despite it being renamed.
The First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act is being tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday.
The bill proposes a way in which First Nations can come together to effectively form school boards while receiving sustainable funding, a government official told a technical briefing shortly before the bill was scheduled to be introduced in Parliament.
The official says the funding will flow to First Nations authorities the same way that provincial school boards currently receive funding.
The FSIN is one of many Aboriginal groups opposed to the legislation.
Bobby Cameron, a vice chief at FSIN, remains sceptical the revamped legislation will meet the needs of First Nations students.
He said authority under the proposed bill will remain in the hands of the minister and not turned over to local councils.
“We maintain our position that our focus is the Inherent and Treaty Right to Education,” said Cameron in a press release.
“It is of International law and no legislation supercedes our Treaty Right to Education. We did not once hear their commitment to the ‘Inherent and Treaty Right to Education’ during their February education announcement.”
Cameron also stated funding falls short of needs, there is no guarantee it will come in two years and urged First Nations in Saskatchewan to develop their own education acts.
– With files from The Canadian Press
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