OTTAWA – Canada’s Department of Aboriginal Affairs has been robbing Peter to pay Paul.
In this case, “Peter” is the department’s infrastructure budget and “Paul” refers to its cash-strapped social and education programs.
A new document shows Aboriginal Affairs shifted half a billion dollars meant for infrastructure over a six-year period to try to cover shortfalls elsewhere.
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The result? The department’s already strapped infrastructure program is starting to buckle while its social and education needs are still falling short.
The document is included as part of a First Nations advocate’s long battle at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to get aboriginal children the same funding from the federal government as non-aboriginal kids get from the provinces.
The document says the department has made “significant reallocations” of about $505 million over the past six years in infrastructure dollars to social, education and other programs to try to fill shortfalls.
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