Aboriginal Child Care in Review (Part One)

Aboriginal Child Care in Review (Part One)
by Margo Greenwood

Aboriginal child care in Canada is complex and multifaceted. Aboriginal children are different by virtue of their distinct histories, cultures, languages and status. Their inherent differences are recognized by the Canadian constitution and provisions of the Indian Act. This special status has not always benefited Aboriginal children. For example, provision of services to Aboriginal children is very complicated considering jurisdictional differences that occur between the federal and provincial governments. While on one hand, child care services fall within provincial government mandates, the federal government has control over Aboriginal peoples and their lands. Further, the Indian Act has established a complex system of registration which excludes a large portion of the Aboriginal population and creates false categorical differences.

As provinces have developed their child care delivery mechanisms, they have not, for the most part, extended their services to Indian reserves. The federal government argues that anything not outlined in the Indian Act is a provincial responsibility, while the provinces argue that Indians are a federal responsibility and will not provide services on reserve unless they are reimbursed (McKenzie, 1991). Caught in the middle of this legal and jurisdictional debate are the Indian children and families who must live the reality of the ambiguity.

The Need for Aboriginal Child Care Services
The need for Aboriginal child care services is highlighted by inequitable distribution of existing spaces, youthful population, lone-parent families, young mothers, birth rates and labour force participation. Quality child care services in Aboriginal communities do not exist. First Nations and Inuit parents, for the most part, do not have access to the subsidies and infrastructure for child care available to the rest of the population in their provinces or territories. However, for all Canadians, 28 % of children with parents working more than 20 hours per week or studying full- time have access to regulated child care services (Human Resources Development Canada, Child Care Programs, 1994).

Child care services are regarded by all Aboriginal groups as necessary support to accessing employment and educational opportunities. Lack of these services is seen as a significant barrier to achieving social security, self-sufficiency and economic development goals. In the 1991 Aboriginal People=s Survey, adults between the ages of 15 and 49 reported the lack of child care as one of the significant barriers to finding employment in 1990 and 1991. In addition, communities reported that young parents fail to complete training programs because of unreliable and unaffordable child care.

The Native Council of Canada (1990) identifies the need for culturally appropriate child care as crucial for the preservation of Aboriginal traditions and identity. Furthermore, Aculturally appropriate child care is needed to accommodate Native family systems and practices, Native methods of learning and Native languages.1

The Report of the National Inquiry into First Nations Child Care (Assembly of First Nations, 1989) concluded that Native children need a culturally based child care program in order to provide children with a strong sense of security, identity and self-assurance. In their 1995 National Overview of First Nations Child Care in Canada, the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) views child care as a cultural issue and, as such, child care services must be based upon the values and traditions of First Nations communities.

The need for Aboriginal child care services is documented by both statistics and in opinions and recommendations made by Aboriginal parents, professionals, communities and organizations. This unmet need began to change with the onset of two national Aboriginal child care initiatives in 1995. The following section describes political and governmental activities that led up to the establishment of these specific child care service initiatives.

An Historical Overview of Political and Governmental Activities Related to the Creation of Aboriginal Child Care Services in Canada
Over the past 20 or more years political and non-political organizations and groups have lobbied for, written about and spoken for Aboriginal child care services. Gradually this need has found its way into the limelight. The Hawthorne Report (1966) was one of the first federal government inquiries to explore the need for child care services on reserve. This report noted the inequity of service availability and accessibility between Indians living on reserve and the rest of Canadian society.

A year earlier, a landmark agreement between the Province of Ontario and the federal government was struck. The 1965 Indian Welfare Agreement made Ontario the only province with parental subsidies for child day care accessible to on-reserve First Nations parents in need. This agreement gave credence to First Nations communities= expression of need for on-reserve child care and set a model for how services could be funded like those of non-Aboriginal parents living in mainstream Canadian society.

Nineteen years later, the Liberal government's National Task Force on Child Care gave nation-wide recognition to the need for Native child care. The report of the Task Force, headed by Katie Cook, was released in 1986. This report recognized that Native communities had similar needs for child care support as the general population. The report also stated that, Aquality child care services would not only enable parents to pursue employment and education, but would also help preserve Native language and culture.2

The need for Aboriginal child care was also made public by the Native Women=s Association of Canada in their presentation to the House of Commons in 1986. They described the critical need for Aboriginal child care services:
The reason why child care is so important is because of the nature of our families, of the social and economic conditions of our men and women. Our children require child day care so that we can break the cycle of poverty, we can break the cycle of alcoholism, but most important so we can pass on our culture, values and language. Without child care services designed by us for our children, in which Elders tell our children their history and assist in the teaching of our children their traditional languages and values, we will only continue to suffer racism, assimilation and language loss. Our children will be more alienated as they grow up and the cycles of poverty, of violence and of abuse will continue.3

In 1987, the Liberal government was replaced by a Progressive Conservative government. This new government created the Special Committee on Child Care. This committee, also known as the Shirley Martin Committee, produced the report Sharing the Responsibility. However the primary focus of this report was child welfare not child care.

In the same year, the Progressive Conservative government announced a National Child Care Strategy. The strategy included the Canada Child Care Act-Bill C-144, a cost sharing arrangement between the federal and provincial governments; the Child Care Initiatives Fund (CCIF); and a last-minute commitment to Aboriginal child care. Bill C-144 died in the senate. Nothing came of the commitment to Aboriginal child care. The CCIF was carried forward.

The CCIF began in 1988 and continued until 1995. CCIF was a seven-year contributions program designed to encourage and evaluate child care innovations and to enhance the quality of child care in Canada. It was not intended to cover the costs associated with the delivery of child care services. Demonstration, development and research projects were funded. Priority areas included: Aboriginal child care, infant/toddler care, out of school care, rural care, and special needs care. Approximately 21 % of all funding went to Aboriginal groups, i.e. approximately $16.6 million on 98 community based projects. CCIF supported a variety of Aboriginal projects including: national child care inquiries, regional and community-based needs assessments, development of formal training programs support materials, culture and language curriculum and a wide range of service models.

CCIF funding has enabled some [Aboriginal] communities to test and develop community and culturally appropriate standards for child care services. Other projects have shown how language and culture are not only critical elements of Aboriginal child care programs, but also a means of reviving and retaining language and culture in communities. Most significantly, these initiatives have shown how child day care can play a role in achieving community wellness.4

Despite this activity, most Aboriginal communities did not reap the benefits of the limited funding available nor was federal funding allocated for the development of Aboriginal child care services.

Even with the Progressive Conservative government=s announcement of a National Child Care Strategy in 1987, of which CCIF was a part, the strategy failed to make any reference to Aboriginal children. In 1988, $60 million was allocated to Aboriginal child care. In 1989, this allocation was withdrawn.

The National Inquiry into First Nations Child Care was prepared by the AFN in 1989. This report stressed the importance of First Nations child care in providing First Nations children with an early sense of security, stability, motivation and pride. It also stated that child care should be regarded as a basic social service available to all parents. Furthermore, the report regarded child care in a holistic manner and saw its intent as not only addressing economic barriers to employment and training but also having the potential to be a vehicle for social change.

First Nations envisage a major role for child care in undoing the damage already done... child care centres as foci for family healing and the nuclei for community health in the best sense of the word. Above all, First Nations see the child care centre as the community core. Before Indians became a colonized people, children were at the heart of the community. First Nations would restore them to that place and in so doing restore themselves. First Nations have come full circle as the creator desires.5

In 1990, the Native Council of Canada produced The Circle of Care. This report is the first national inquiry to explore the needs and existing child care services for off-reserve status and non-status First Nations people. Like the AFN=s National Inquiry into First Nations Child Care (1989), The Circle of Care views child day care as a potential vehicle for social change and cultural transmission. The report states that Aculturally relevant child day care is crucial for the preservation of First Nations= children=s languages, traditions and identity. Child day care can be a vehicle through which cultures can be retained and transmitted from generation to generation.6

In 1992, the Brighter Futures Initiative was announced by the federal government. This five-year initiative sought to employ a community-determined approach to supporting the well-being of First Nations children and families living on reserve. The primary focus was on the developmental needs of children and youth between the ages of 0 and 23 years. Brighter Futures was intended to replace the promised Child Care Strategy; however, there was no direct provision for on-reserve child care services.

The counterpart of the Brighter Futures Initiative serving Aboriginal children and families living off-reserve outside Inuit communities is CAPC, Community Action Plan for Children. Likewise, this initiative had no provision for the delivery of Aboriginal child care services.

In 1993, the newly elected Liberal government made a commitment to create new child day care spaces in Canada. There was no mention of on-reserve child day care, although a promise for an off-reserve Head Start Program was included.

The Social Security Discussion Paper (1994), presented by Minister Axworthy, stated that part of the $720 million allocated for child care would be designated for First Nations and Inuit communities.

In January 1995, Minister Axworthy announced a 6,000-space commitment to the First Nations and Inuit Child Care Initiative, with a fiscal commitment of $72 million in the first three development years and $36 million ongoing thereafter.

The AFN produced National Overview of First Nations Child Care in Canada in 1995. This report identified: 1) the preservation of language and culture; 2) parental and community participation; 3) local jurisdiction and control; 4) quality management and human resources; and 5) adequate resourcing as critical components of a successful Aboriginal child care program.7

The national Aboriginal Head Start Initiative was announced by Minister Diane Marleau May 29, 1995. This $83.7 million, four-year commitment was the fulfilment of the liberal Red Book promise for an early intervention program for Aboriginal parents and children living in urban and large northern communities.

The challenge for both the First Nations/Inuit Child Care Initiative and the Aboriginal Head Start Initiative will be to implement the program in a manner consistent with and respectful of Aboriginal children, families and communities.

Margo Greenwood is a First Nations cultural education facilitator in British Columbia. Watch for Part II of this article in a future issue of Interaction.

Endnotes
1. Native Council of Canada (1990). National Commission on Aboriginal Child Care Our Children -- Our Responsibility: Blueprint for Action. Ottawa, ON: author, 17.
2. Cooke, K., et al. (1986). Report of the Task Force on Child Care. Ottawa, ON: author, 87.
3. Mock, K., et al. (August, 1986). Child Care Needs of Cultural Minorities. Prepared for the House of Commons Special Committee on Child Care. Ottawa, ON, 7.
4. Government of Canada (January 18, 1994). Child Care Initiatives Fund On and Off Reserve Aboriginal Child Care Projects. Ottawa, ON: Minister of Supply and Services, 1.
5. Assembly of First Nations (1989). The National Inquiry into First Nations Child Care. Ottawa, ON: author, 14.
6. Native Council of Canada (1990). Native Child Care: The Circle of Care. Ottawa, ON: author, 35.
7. Assembly of First Nations (1995). National Overview of First Nations Child Care in Canada. Ottawa, ON: First Nations Health Commission, 20.

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