John Richards CREATING CHOICES Richards John Rethinking Aboriginal Policy John Richards Canadians have undertaken to assure the survival of Aboriginal governments and cul- ture. As John Richards writes in this well-researched review of Aboriginal policy, Canadians cannot and should not seek a return to an early twentieth-century view of aboriginal policy whereby native Canadians would be assimilated and their cultural distinctiveness all but ignored. This book explores pragmatic policy reforms that all Choices: Creating levels of government — federal, provincial, and Aboriginal — should be pursuing. Whatever the ultimate causes in the past, the key immediate cause for Aboriginal poverty, Richards argues, is the low level of Aboriginal education. Low education leads to low employment rates and the intergenerational perpetuation of poverty. Low education levels, low employment rates, and many Aboriginal health problems, such as diabetes, are closely interrelated. Rethinking Aboriginal Policy Richards offers a carefully developed analysis, focusing on several key areas in need of reform — including education, health care, design of fiscal transfers to band coun- cils, and social assistance. The goal is to help Aboriginals enjoy the opportunities available to other Canadians, and to better position Aboriginals to support and main- tain their culture wherever they may live: on-reserve, off-reserve in rural communi- ties, or, as they increasingly do, in cities. John Richards is a professor in Simon Fraser University’s Graduate Public Policy Program and the Phillips Scholar in Social Policy at the C.D. Howe Institute. He has written extensively on Aboriginal policy issues. C.D. Howe Institute C.D. Howe CREATING CHOICES ISBN 0-88806-677-5 ISBN 0-88806-677-5 ISSN 0832-7912 Rethinking Aboriginal Policy $21.95 Aboriginal Inside Front Cover.qxp 1/24/2006 3:07 PM Page 1 The C.D. Howe Institute The C.D. Howe Institute is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization that aims to improve Canadians’ standard of living by fos- tering sound economic and social policy. The Institute promotes the application of independent research and analysis to major economic and social issues affecting the quality of life of Canadians in all regions of the country. It takes a global perspective by considering the impact of international factors on Canada and bringing insights from other jurisdictions to the discussion of Canadian public policy. Policy recommendations in the Institute’s publications are founded on quality research conducted by leading experts and subject to rigorous peer review. The Institute communicates clearly the analysis and recommen- dations arising from its work to the general public, the media, academia, experts, and policymakers. The Institute began life in 1958 when a group of prominent business and labour leaders organized the Private Planning Association of Canada to research and promote educational activities on issues related to public economic and social policy. The PPAC renamed itself the C.D. Howe Research Institute in 1973 following a merger with the C.D. Howe Memor- ial Foundation, an organization created in 1961 to memorialize the Right Honourable Clarence Decatur Howe. In 1981, the Institute adopted its current name after the Memorial Foundation again became a separate entity in order to focus its work more directly on memorializing C.D. Howe. The C.D. Howe Institute will celebrate its 50th Anniversary as the gold standard for public policy research in 2008. The Institute encourages participation in and support of its activities from business, organized labour, associations, the professions, and inter- ested individuals. For further information, please contact the Institute’s Development Officer. The Chairman of the Institute is Tim Hearn; Jack M. Mintz is Presi- dent and Chief Executive Officer. C.D. Howe Institute 67 Yonge Street Suite 300 Toronto, Ontario M5E 1J8 tel.: 416-865-1904; fax: 416-865-1866 e-mail: [email protected] Internet: www.cdhowe.org Creating Choices Rethinking Aboriginal Policy John Richards Policy Study 43 C.D. Howe Institute C.D. Howe Institute publications are available from: Renouf Publishing Company Limited, 5369 Canotek Road, Unit 1, Ottawa, Ontario K1J 9J3 phone: (613) 745-2665; fax: (613) 745-7660; Internet: www.renoufbooks.com and from Renouf’s store at: 71½ Sparks Street, Ottawa (613) 238-8985 This book is printed on recycled, acid-free paper. Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication Richards, John Creating choices : rethinking Aboriginal policy / John Richards. (Policy study, 0832-7912 ; 43) ISBN 0-88806-653-8 1. Native peoples—Health and hygiene—Canada. 2. Native peoples—Education—Canada. 3. Native peoples—Canada—Government relations. I. C.D. Howe Institute II. Title. III. Series: Policy study (C.D. Howe Institute) ; 43. E92.R515 2006 305.897'071'021 C2006-900188-X © C.D. Howe Institute, Toronto. Quotation with appropriate credit is permissible. Cover design by Diane King. Printed in Canada by Ricoh, 205 Industrial Parkway North, Aurora ON L4G 4C4 January 2006. Contents Foreword ........................................................................................................vii Preface ..............................................................................................................ix 1 Benoît v The Queen ..................................................................................1 2 ”It Was Forced Feeding from the Start”................................................8 The Limits of Pessimistic Anthropology ............................................13 From Pessimism to Optimism ..............................................................18 Conclusion ..............................................................................................24 Appendix: Defining and Counting the Aboriginal Population..............................................26 3 Why the Gap in Health Outcomes? ....................................................30 Explaining the Gap ................................................................................33 The case of Diabetes ..............................................................................39 The Effect of Aboriginal Health Program Delivery ..........................47 Conclusion ..............................................................................................52 Appendix: Regression Models to Explain Diabetes Prevalence Rates among Aboriginals ............................................54 4 Schools Matter ........................................................................................56 Education, Work, and Income ..............................................................58 What to Do about Aboriginal Education ............................................75 Aboriginal Students in British Columbia Schools ............................78 Policy Goals and Alternative Strategies ..............................................86 Conclusion ..............................................................................................98 5 Defining Limits ....................................................................................101 Limits to Nationalism: The Quebec Example ..................................104 Limits to Welfare Dependency: The US Example ............................110 Defining Limits to Aboriginal Nationalism ......................................114 6 Time to Rethink ....................................................................................117 The Question of Shared Citizenship ..................................................119 The Question of Band Council Spending and Taxation Powers ......................................................................121 The Question of Affirmative Action ..................................................127 Conclusion ............................................................................................127 iv Contents Figures 3.1: Life-Expectancy Comparisons, Registered Indians and All Canadians, by Sex, 1975–2005 ................................................................32 3.2: Prevalence of Diabetes among Aboriginals, by Place of Residence and Employment Rate, 2001 ......................................................45 4.1: Income Distributions, Aboriginals On- and Off-Reserve and Non-Aboriginals, 2000 ..................................................................................59 4.2: Median Incomes of Aboriginals On- and Off-Reserve and Non-Aboriginals, Ages 25–44, Selected Provinces, by Employment Rate, 2000............................................................................62 4.3: Median Incomes of Aboriginals On- and Off-Reserve and Non-Aboriginals, by Level of Education, 1995 ..........................................64 4.4: Employment Rate, Aboriginals On- and Off-Reserve and Non-Aboriginals, Ages 25–44, Selected Provinces, by Percentage with High School Graduation Certificate or Higher Education, 2001 ............................................................................65 4.5: Off-Reserve Employment Rate by Racial Identity, Western Provinces, March 2004–April 2005................................................66 4.6: Increases in Education Attainment, Aboriginals and Non-Aboriginals, by Sex, Selected Cities, 1981–2001................................67 4.7: Ratios of Aboriginal to Non-Aboriginal Median Employment Incomes, Selected Cities, 1980 and 2000..............................69 4.8: Median Incomes, Aboriginals On- and Off-Reserve and Non-Aboriginals,