Tag Archives: Indigenous

September 30 is National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

September 27, 2021

September 30 marks a new federal statutory holiday in our country – National Day for Truth & Reconciliation. The day honours the lost children and survivors of residential schools and their families and communities. It recognizes that public commemoration of the tragic and painful history and ongoing impacts of residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process.

Fix Our Schools wanted to mark this day with some reflection on First Nations schools across our country.

First Nations Schools on Indigenous Reserves Prior to COVID-19

While Ontario’s publicly funded schools rely upon provincial funding, the federal government is responsible for First Nations schools on reserves. Ontario’s publicly funded school buildings entered the COVID-19 pandemic with a $16.3-billion repair backlog and, despite “historic” levels of provincial funding, this repair backlog increased to $16.8-billion by June, 2021. While this number is staggering, it notably does not even include First Nations schools, portables, accessibility retrofits, water quality, air quality, or asbestos abatement. There is, however, significant disrepair as well as a lack of clean water and sanitation in many schools on First Nations reserves. There is also an absence of schools within a reasonable distance for many First Nations students, particularly high schools.

According to the Assembly of First Nations – First Nations Education Infrastructure Capital Needs Assessment, 2020, there are 526 First Nations schools across Canada, and $2.14 billion is required for new school construction and additions, with 28% (or 140) schools being overcrowded. Further to this, 46 of the 526 First Nations schools required immediate replacement based on the school age or poor condition.

The COVID-19 Pandemic Expanded Inequities In Education and Schools

Disrepair, lack of clean water and sanitation, absence of local schools, and overcrowding were issues that negatively impacted Indigenous students even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. And, as the Ontario COVID-19 Science Table noted in its July 2021 briefing, “for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented additional distinctive and substantial challenges for education delivery which has expanded inequities”. This science briefing highlighted specific issues with school infrastructure on reserves:

  1. Ensure clear accountability for education support whether through federal or provincial resources.
  2. Remote learning is less accessible, due to technological challenges, in these communities.
  3. Aging infrastructure, including older HVAC and supplemental ventilation/filtration systems in many remote First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities may impact the ability to properly ventilate schools and ensure adequate air quality, particularly during local outbreaks and in the colder months when opening windows is not an option.
  4. Schools in remote, rural, and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities that do not meet the appropriate minimum ventilation guidelines from ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2019, should be prioritized for upgrades.
  5. Overcrowded education infrastructure in some remote First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities could make preventative measures such as cohorting and physical distancing difficult and could result in the need to shift to remote learning in some instances, further contributing to high rates of disengagement. Appropriate resources should be provided to ensure adequate space is available to support consistent in-person learning in these communities, and to ensure equitable access to digital learning resources.

 

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was formed in 2007, in response to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class-action suit in Canadian history. In June 2015, the TRC presented the executive summary of the findings contained in its multi-volume final report, including 94 “calls to action” (or recommendations) to further reconciliation between Canadians and Indigenous Peoples.

The following TRC recommendations are specific to Education:

6. We call upon the Government of Canada to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

7. We call upon the federal government to develop with Aboriginal groups a joint strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

8. We call upon the federal government to eliminate the discrepancy in federal education funding for First Nations children being educated on reserves and those First Nations children being educated off reserves.

9. We call upon the federal government to prepare and publish annual reports comparing funding for the education of First Nations children on and off reserves, as well as educational and income attainments of Aboriginal peoples in Canada compared with nonAboriginal people.

10. We call on the federal government to draft new Aboriginal education legislation with the full participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples. The new legislation would include a commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles:

i. Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.

ii. Improving education attainment levels and success rates.

iii. Developing culturally appropriate curricula.

iv. Protecting the right to Aboriginal languages, including the teaching of Aboriginal languages as credit courses.

v. Enabling parental and community responsibility, control, and accountability, similar to what parents enjoy in public school systems.

vi. Enabling parents to fully participate in the education of their children. vii. Respecting and honouring Treaty relationships.

11. We call upon the federal government to provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education.

12. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families.

September 30 is Canada’s first National Day for Truth & Reconciliation

So much listening, collaboration, funding, and commitment to do better is needed to address Canada’s hitherto abject failure of Indigenous children, their families and communities.

On September 30, we encourage you to mark Canada’s first National Day for Truth & Reconciliation. Consider taking time to:

  • Wear orange. Orange Shirt Day, an Indigenous-led grassroots commemorative day that honours the children who survived Indian Residential Schools and remembers those who did not, also takes place on September 30. Wearing orange on September 30 raises awareness of the very tragic legacy of residential schools, and honours the thousands of Survivors.
  • Write your newly elected (or re-elected) local MP and Prime Minister Trudeau to prioritize education and schools for all Indigenous Peoples in Ontario, and across the country.
  • Tune in to CBC coverage of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. CBC will be sharing First Nations, Métis and Inuit perspectives and experiences from across the country. For the entire day, these stories will be broadcast across CBC TV, CBC News Network, CBC.ca, CBC Kids, CBC Radio One and CBC Music, including a commercial-free primetime broadcast special, National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
  • “See us, hear us, and to believe us”. Geraldine Shingoose, a residential school survivor – or warrior as she prefers to be called – said in this Global News piece , “I ask Canada to see us, to hear us and to believe us,” echoing the sentiments of Murray Sinclair, who served as chairman of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Shingoose suggests Canadians take a moment of silence at 2:15 p.m. – referring to the number of graves found in Kamloops, and adds that small gestures such as displaying an orange shirt in your window can have a powerful impact on survivors.

Largest School Board in the Country Takes a Step in the Right Direction

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) is Canada’s largest school board and, as per the following media release from September 22, 2021, has taken a step in the right direction.

“The Toronto District School Board (TDSB) Urban Indigenous Education Centre (UIEC), with guidance from the Elders Council, will open the Boyne Natural Science School as an Indigenous Land-Based Learning site.Trustees unanimously supported the initiative during this evening’s Regular Board Meeting.

This site is located on 308.5 acres of the Niagara Escarpment, adjacent to the Bruce Trail and the Boyne River Provincial Park. Its reopening supports the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: Calls to Action and supports Indigenous Education on The Land for all students, staff and Indigenous communities

The Indigenous Land-Based Learning site, which will have one to two classes on location at a time will feature programming that focuses on holistic Indigenous health and well-being (physical, intellectual, emotional, spiritual) in support of Indigenous student success. It will also include professional learning, community engagement, partnerships, curriculum resource development and innovation, research and development, and reconciliation through Indigenous perspectives.

To support the expansion of Land-Based Learning through Indigenous ways of knowing and being, UIEC staff will create resources to support all curriculum areas based on Indigenous Pedagogies; including, but not limited to Indigenous cultures and traditions, Indigenous language revitalization, archery, canoe/kayak building, hiking, maple syrup programming, mapping and orienteering, medicine harvesting and walks, mountain biking and snow shoeing.

In the future, the TDSB anticipates the site can be restored to support larger groups for day and overnight programming when the pandemic allows.”

What’s the Plan Premier Ford and Minister Lecce?

July 22, 2021

What is the plan for September for Ontario’s 2-million elementary and high school students to safely resume in-person learning? Having experienced the longest interruption of face-to-face learning in Canada, Ontario’s children surely deserve to be prioritized by Premier Ford and Minister Lecce. As we’ve previously stated, we believe that the Ford government has:

and in so doing, our provincial government has ultimately failed Ontario’s students and their families and our economy. Fix Our Schools sincere hope is that we will see a change in the approach of the Ford government as we head into the 2021/22 school year.

We read with interest the Ontario Science Table’s recent science briefing entitled, “School Operation for the 2021- 2022 Academic Year in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic” that was released on July 19, 2021. This science briefing emphasized that education is “children’s essential work”, that schools are of critical importance to students’ learning and overall well-being, and that in-person schooling is optimal for the vast majority of students.

The focus of the Fix Our Schools campaign continues to be ensuring safe, healthy, well-maintained school buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working for all Ontario students, teachers, and education workers. With this lens in mind, we were struck by the attention given in the science briefing to special considerations required for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities; to indoor air quality (IAQ), achieved through proper ventilation and filtration; and to hand hygiene:

Indigenous Communities 

The July 19th science briefing clearly acknowledged that, “for rural, remote, and Indigenous communities, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented additional distinctive and substantial challenges for education delivery which has expanded inequities”. Specific to school infrastructure, the science briefing highlighted the following points:

  1. Ensure clear accountability for education support whether through federal or provincial resources.
  2. Remote learning is less accessible, due to technological challenges, in these communities.
  3. Aging infrastructure, including older HVAC and supplemental ventilation/filtration systems in many remote First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities may impact the ability to properly ventilate schools and ensure adequate air quality, particularly during local outbreaks and in the colder months when opening windows is not an option.
  4. Schools in remote, rural, and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities that do not meet the appropriate minimum ventilation guidelines from ASHRAE Standard 62.1-2019, should be prioritized for upgrades.
  5. Overcrowded education infrastructure in some remote First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities could make preventative measures such as cohorting and physical distancing difficult and could result in the need to shift to remote learning in some instances, further contributing to high rates of disengagement. Appropriate resources should be provided to ensure adequate space is available to support consistent in-person learning in these communities, and to ensure equitable access to digital learning resources.

Fix Our Schools must highlight that Canada’s federal government is responsible for First Nations School Infrastructure, and that even prior to the challenges of COVID-19, overcrowding, disrepair, and, unbelievably, something as essential as safe drinking water have all been issues that schools for Ontario’s Indigenous communities. Furthermore, our federal government was very late to provide what appears to have been grossly inadequate funding last summer for First Nations schools to be able to ensure a safe and effective reopening of schools in September 2020, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

With these realities as context, Prime Minister Trudeau, Carolyn Bennett, our federal Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, and Marc Miller, our federal Minister of Indigenous Services must prioritize education and schools for all Indigenous Peoples for a safe return to school for September 2021.

Indoor Air Quality (IAQ)

As stated in the July 19th science briefing, “given the importance of indoor air quality for overall health and learning, achieving adequate ventilation in schools is an important investment to support improved health, academic performance and to assist in preventing the spread of several infectious diseases.”

The recommendations for achieving and maintaining adequate air quality through ventilation and filtration, as taken directly from the July 19, 2001 science briefing, are as follows:

  1. A systematic approach to identifying and prioritizing schools for ventilation upgrades should be undertaken. As a starting point, schools that do not meet the appropriate minimum ventilation guidelines from The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) Standard 62.1-2019, should be prioritized for upgrades.
  2. Invest in school heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system infrastructure and regular maintenance. This is of particular importance in schools where the system does not support good indoor air quality. HVAC systems can be optimized for a variety of objectives which may change in priority depending on the context, e.g., COVID-19 pandemic, extreme cold/heat events.
  3. During the pandemic, HVAC system function has been recommended to be optimized for respiratory particle removal (e.g., use of the highest rated Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) filter that can be accommodated by the system, regular inspection of filters assembly, routine replacement of filters). In consultation with experts in physical plant design, air exchange rate and outdoor air intake can be increased. The limits of what is possible may be dictated by thermal comfort, humidity, and outdoor air quality.
  4. Consideration can be given to increasing ventilation/filtration above the minimum ASHRAE guidelines, where possible, where more respiratory aerosols are likely to be generated (e.g., music room, auditorium, cafeteria, gymnasium).
  5. Additional strategies can be used to improve air quality while awaiting HVAC system upgrades including the use of available outdoor learning environments; the opening of windows; and the use of portable air cleaners with high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter units in classrooms may be considered in spaces/classrooms with limited ability to achieve adequate ventilation (i.e., unable to open windows, no/insufficient HVAC ventilation), taking into consideration the transmission risk (e.g., age, classroom activities, community epidemiology). Please see page 19-20 of the science briefing for detailed recommendations on portable air cleaners. 
  6. Monitoring ventilation: It is important that HVAC and supplemental ventilation/filtration systems are regularly maintained and that measures are checked with the goal of optimization (e.g., air exchange rates, outdoor air intake, temperature, humidity). Carbon dioxide (CO2) levels can serve as a proxy measure for overall ventilation, but the CO2 level does not necessarily correlate with SARS-CoV-2 transmission risk. While CO2 monitoring has been suggested to be helpful when done properly, it requires expertise and communication and should not detract from ventilation upgrades.

Fix Our Schools urges the Ontario Science Table to acknowledge that all of these recommendations also require adequate, stable funding from the provincial government. And, while we agree that ventilation upgrades must be pursued immediately, we also must emphasize the importance of ultimately having in place:

  • commonly defined and understood standards for indoor air quality (IAQ)
  • acceptable tools and methods to ensure that all Ontario classrooms meet those IAQ standards

A July 20, 2021 Toronto Star article entitled, “What are Durham schools doing to improve ventilation, air quality for this fall?” outlines details on the ventilation and air-quality improvements that will be in place as students return to the classroom in four local school boards. Yet, readers are left wondering what these improvements have achieved in terms of outcomes of improved IAQ in classrooms.

A July 15, 2021 Toronto Star article entitled, “Ontario is opening up for Step 3: What you need to know as you head inside to share air with strangers” also outlines steps being taken to improve the indoor air quality of businesses and public spaces. Yet, readers are left wondering what actually constitutes “acceptable” IAQ (i.e. standards). These gaps must be filled with standards and measurement tools.

Hand Hygiene

As the July 19th science briefing outlines, “routine, frequent and proper hand hygiene (soap and water or hand sanitizer) is important in limiting transmission and should continue to be encouraged in schools. Routine hand hygiene is also beneficial for the prevention of many other childhood infections that have the potential to disrupt school attendance (e.g., gastrointestinal viral illnesses).”

Fix Our Schools urges the Ontario Science Table to acknowledge that access to proper hand-washing facilities is wanting in many Ontario classrooms, as is illustrated in this video. Accessible, effective hand-washing facilities require adequate, stable funding from the provincial government, as does having sufficient caretakers in each school to ensure soap dispensers are filled in a timely manner.

There is much work to be done in to ensure schools are safe and healthy environments for all students, teachers and education workers – not only as the Ford government and the Trudeau government plan for and invest in a safe return to school this coming September, but for the long-term.

 

Failing Grades for Both Canada and Premier Ford

June 8, 2021

A Failing Grade for Canada

Canada has repeatedly failed Indigenous children, their families and their communities. The discovery of 215 children buried in unmarked graves at Kamloops Residential School has highlighted that there was nothing about Canada’s Residential Schools that was safe, healthy or conducive to learning.

NOTE: Several weeks after 215 unmarked graves were found Kamloops Residential School, on June 24, 2021, the Cowessess First Nation announced a preliminary finding of 751 more unmarked graves near the former Marieval Indian Residential School in Southeast Saskatchewan. We expect additional unmarked graves will continue to be unearthed.

The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) was formed in 2007, in response to the Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement, the largest class-action suit in Canadian history. In June 2015, the TRC presented the executive summary of the findings contained in its multi-volume final report, including 94 “calls to action” (or recommendations) to further reconciliation between Canadians and Indigenous Peoples.

The following recommendations are specific to Education:

6. We call upon the Government of Canada to repeal Section 43 of the Criminal Code of Canada.

7. We call upon the federal government to develop with Aboriginal groups a joint strategy to eliminate educational and employment gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians.

8. We call upon the federal government to eliminate the discrepancy in federal education funding for First Nations children being educated on reserves and those First Nations children being educated off reserves.

9. We call upon the federal government to prepare and publish annual reports comparing funding for the education of First Nations children on and off reserves, as well as educational and income attainments of Aboriginal peoples in Canada compared with nonAboriginal people.

10. We call on the federal government to draft new Aboriginal education legislation with the full participation and informed consent of Aboriginal peoples. The new legislation would include a commitment to sufficient funding and would incorporate the following principles:

i. Providing sufficient funding to close identified educational achievement gaps within one generation.

ii. Improving education attainment levels and success rates.

iii. Developing culturally appropriate curricula.

iv. Protecting the right to Aboriginal languages, including the teaching of Aboriginal languages as credit courses.

v. Enabling parental and community responsibility, control, and accountability, similar to what parents enjoy in public school systems.

vi. Enabling parents to fully participate in the education of their children. vii. Respecting and honouring Treaty relationships.

11. We call upon the federal government to provide adequate funding to end the backlog of First Nations students seeking a post-secondary education.

12. We call upon the federal, provincial, territorial, and Aboriginal governments to develop culturally appropriate early childhood education programs for Aboriginal families.

So much listening, collaboration, funding, and commitment to do better is needed to address Canada’s hitherto abject failure of Indigenous children, their families and communities. 

A Failing Grade for Premier Ford and his Government 

Premier Ford and his government failed to make the public health policy decisions that could have led to better outcomes for Ontario’s students, their families, teachers, education workers and Ontario’s businesses. In Robyn Urback’s Globe and Mail opinion piece of June 3, 2021 entitled, Doug Ford’s pandemic response has been the worst of Canada’s Premiers, she states,

“nowhere else in Canada have children been out of school so long, have seniors been hit with two equally devastating waves, have outdoor activities been so restricted for months, have personal service workers been forced into such prolonged shutdown and have retailers and other businesses faced such extended restrictions. And in exchange for these sacrifices, the province can boast … average case numbers, and above-average deaths.”  and also  notes, “Along with kids, Ontario’s seniors – particularly those in long-term care homes – have disproportionately borne the burden of Mr. Ford’s aimless, undisciplined approach to pandemic control.” 

Fix Our Schools’ focus continues to be on ensuring that Ontario’s schools are safe, healthy, well-maintained buildings that provide environments conducive to learning and working. Throughout the pandemic, Premier Ford has claimed that he shared this focus, and that he prioritized Ontario’s students, their schools and education, and their mental health.

However, in our opinion, Premier Ford and his government have:

and in so doing, Premier Ford and his government have ultimately failed Ontario’s students and their families and our economy.

Acknowledging this failure, we must now look forward to ensuring Ontario’s students return to school in September as safely as possible and with as much normalcy as possible, to be sure. To deliver on this goal, Premier Ford and his government must ensure standards, metrics, data and investment are in place as quickly as possible. Success also requires that Premier Ford provides leadership that allows both the education and public health sectors to maintain a steadfast focus on September.

Beyond safety and normalcy, we also need a vision of excellence for Ontario’s schools and education beyond what was considered “normal” prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Let’s remember that pre-pandemic, $16.3-B of disrepair existed in Ontario’s schools following decades of provincial underfunding, and we had no standards in place for schools to measure whether schools and classrooms were safe, healthy, well-maintained and provided environments conducive to learning. This vision for excellence absolutely must be developed with input from all education stakeholders. Given that Ford’s government was elected having a scant education policy platform, his government has no mandate from the electorate to determine this vision on its own. Ontario’s children and youth are going to need to be prioritized for many years to come.

Citizen Advocacy Works!

A recent study found that when citizens make direct contact with their local government representative – they do influence decision-making and policy. This same study also found that sharing personal stories is a powerful way to communicate with your local government representatives. So, at a time when many people have started to disengage, feeling a lack of control and a lack of hope at times – we encourage you to dig deep and advocate on behalf of Ontario’s students.

Please email Premier Ford or call him at 416-325-1941
Please email Education Minister Lecce or call him at 416-325-2600
Please also contact your local MPP

Please share your stories with our provincial leaders. Tell them how school closures and online learning have been impacting the children in your life. As two doctors wrote, “we cannot let our children and youth become the pandemic’s collateral damage.” Let’s work together to make Ontario’s children a priority now.

How First Nations Schools Are Faring Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

November 5, 2020

First Nations schools are funded by the Canadian federal government, whereas other publicly funded schools are the province’s financial responsibility. As provinces across the country were determining the safety measures that needed to be in place for public schools to reopen in September, inexplicably, First Nations schools were largely left to handle preparations themselves, without any resources or support. In fact, only in late August did the federal government announce that it would provide $112-million in funding for schools on reserves to help pay for things such as ventilation, personal protective equipment, and cleaning supplies. Unsurprisingly, by mid-September, these dollars had not yet started to find their way to First Nations schools.

On October 30, CBC covered that the federal government had released $200-million more in pandemic support for Indigenous communities to target childcare, education, and infrastructure. First Nations school infrastructure has frequently been noted as being overcrowded and in very poor condition. Therefore, amidst a global pandemic, sufficient and timely funding to address safety concerns should have been paramount.

Even though First Nations schools are funded federally, in an Ontario funding announcement the last week of October, the provincial government said that $6.5-million of the $1-billion announced would be directed toward Indigenous and on-reserve education, through the Ministry of Infrastructure in collaboration with the Ministries of Education and Indigenous Affairs. In Saskatchewan, more than 20 First Nations schools have closed due to COVID-19 fears, according to an October 30 CBC article.

Fix Our Schools believes that the federal and provincial funding that has been provided is likely far from sufficient to ensure all First Nations school infrastructure is safe, healthy, and well-maintained. We urge further steps by both provincial governments and the federal government towards ensuring adequate and stable funding for all First Nations schools and Indigenous children.