Office of the Chief Coroner

Publications & Reports

The Office of the Chief Coroner’s Death Review of the Youth Suicides at the Pikangikum First Nation

2006 – 2008

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Part D: Education

D1. Introduction

The greatest opportunity to effect change at Pikangikum relates to education. Undoubtedly, education more than any other service, has the potential to have maximal impact on improving the lives of the children and youth of Pikangikum. A robust education which prepares the children and youth for a future both on and off reserve, educated for trades (vocation), colleges or to the university level needs to be the desired outcome for each child. This will never be achievable until children are expected and required to attend school.

When members from the Office of the Chief Coroner visited the community of Pikangikum in March 2010 and asked about the extraordinary rate of truancy, the principle reason provided was the high rate of parental alcoholism. Children were not up and prepared to face the day because their parents were not able to assist them in that preparation.

The school burned down on June 8th of 2007 and was replaced by a group of portables organized as 17 buildings. Many community members pointed to the destruction of the school as a significant negative turning point in the community’s history. The school was the venue for a variety of cultural and social events; it was the hub of the community. Of the 16 deaths that occurred at the Pikangikum First Nation in the years 2006-2008, six deaths in two clusters, occurred shortly after the school burned down,. One of the clusters of suicide deaths occurred immediately after the school burned down, with a second cluster occurring shortly thereafter.

Date of Death – Cluster #1	Date of Death – Cluster #2
June 10, 2007	August 9, 2007
June 10, 2007	August 23, 2007
June 17, 2007	August 28, 2007

For some of the vulnerable children, they may have viewed the school as a focal point for activity that provided them with camaraderie, friendship, programming and some reason for hope in their lives. These activities may have been available to them, even though they were not attending school.

D2. Education Governance: The Pikangikum Education Authority

In 1988, the First Nation began to deliver its own education program, and children stopped being sent to residential schools, typically in Poplar Hill, Pelican Falls and Kenora. The governance structure for education consists of the Pikangikum Education Authority comprised of a Chairman, two Directors of Education assisted by four elected members from the Band. The oversight hierarchy in education depicts parents and students having oversight for the Chief and Council, who have oversight for the Pikangikum Education Authority, who then have oversight for the Principal, teachers and school.

When the school burned down in 2007, there were approximately 750 students enrolled. For the 2009 school year, the OCC was told that there were 620 enrolled for whom funding was received.¹ For the 2010 school year, the number was reported as 520, with approximately 300-500 children of school age not enrolled. The exact number is not known. Education funding is provided by Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) as an envelope to the First Nation for the delivery of the education system. The funding formula is based on a head count coupled with consistent attendance.

The Education Authority meets as necessary in their office. This can occur on a daily basis to deal with the day-to-day events in the school. This might include, for example, an injury to a child. The Education Authority employs in excess of 100 people to deliver the school program.

The Education Program

The school offers a program from junior kindergarten to grade 12. When the school burned down, it was reconstituted with portables and currently consists of 17 buildings, re-opening in late September 2007.

Picture 5. The current school delivered through a system of portables. Note graffiti on the walls of the buildings March 5, 2010.

The school employs 28 teachers. There are 22 elementary school teachers, and six secondary school teachers. All of the secondary school teachers have qualifications such as their Ontario Teachers’ Certificate. Fifteen of the elementary school teachers have this level of qualification, and of the remaining seven teachers, six are qualified with a Native Teacher Education Program (NTEP) and one is not.

The community and the school have a remarkable history of language retention. At school entry, Ojibwa language retention was reported approaching 100%. Instruction in English begins in grade one. The school provides instruction and retains Ojibwa, syllabic, cultural and elder teachers. The cultural teachers will take the students into the bush for one to two day excursions, and the elders teach the children about the history of Pikangikum, and First Nations beadwork and crafts. This is a genuine strength in the community.

The curriculum offered follows the Ontario curriculum. The school grants education credits, and is a Private School under the Education Act. Its credits are equivalent to provincial secondary schools and are transferable. The school offers a program from junior kindergarten to grade 12. The grade 12 level program offers applied, academic and workplace levels and graduates would be eligible for university. Of the eight children that graduated from high school the previous academic year, none went on to post high school education. The age/grade gap for the Pikangikum First Nation is approximately three years. This means that a grade 12 graduate from the Pikangikum School at the basic level is equivalent to a grade nine level in a typical Ontario school. The school anticipates graduating 9 students from grade 12 for the current year finishing in June 2011. In conversation with the principal in May 2011, just two children completed their studies.

In the past, children from Pikangikum who appeared to have academic abilities and who might transition to post secondary school education were provided with the opportunity to obtain a higher quality education at a Private School operated by the Northern Nishnawbe Education Council (NNEC).² The NNEC is directed by the Chiefs of 24 Sioux Lookout First Nations and was established in 1978, and incorporated in 1979. It provides a boarding program for students between the grades of 9 to 12. It is an education authority providing secondary level education services to First Nations youth away from home and its purpose is to increase the numbers of First Nations professionals through post secondary programs in order to advance First Nations self-government, self-determination and economic self-sufficiency and to assist Band Councils local control of education.³

The school which was previously accessible to youth from Pikangikum, Pelican Falls First Nations High School offered Pikangikum youth the opportunity to reside in the community while attending the school from grades 9-12 and receive their education. The school offers programs that provide the youth with an education so that they were prepared to go on to trades, colleges or university. However, this privilege is no longer available for the youth of Pikangikum. The Office of the Chief Coroner was told that a determination has been made that since the Pikangikum School offers programs to grade 12, students from Pikangikum must receive their educations entirely at the Pikangikum School. The quality of the education offered at Pelican Falls First Nations High School is considered more complete and more intensive and its graduates may be better prepared to face the challenges of college and university. Pikangikum youth who were bright and demonstrated both aptitude and interest were permitted to attend the Pelican Falls First Nation High School in the past. This privilege is now no longer available to them. The Pelican Falls First Nation High School also allowed the children and youth to begin to transition out of Pikangikum to the broader community, an opportunity that has been lost. Regrettably, e-learning is not an option at Pikangikum as there is no budget available. There has been a series of deaths reported in youth leaving the familiarity of their First Nation and living in homes while attending remote schools. Undoubtedly, transitioning from their home communities to large urban centres such as Thunder Bay presents many challenges.

Recommendations

Pikangikum First Nation and the Pikangikum Education Authority (PEA)

60. The Pikangikum First Nation, Education Authority and educators from the school should convene a meeting to meaningfully discuss the fundamental role of education as delivered in the community. This might include a discussion of the mission, vision and values of the Pikangikum Education Authority. Central to this discussion is the creation of a statement of understanding about what outcomes are expected or anticipated for the children and youth attending the school that will assist them in creating viable futures for themselves. Consideration should be given to employing a facilitator for the meeting from outside the community, with expertise in the provision of First Nations education.

The question that must be answered at the highest levels in Pikangikum is, “what is the purpose of the school?” None of the children in the previous graduating class went on to post-secondary education, where they would be educated to a level to provide themselves with marketable skills both on reserve and in the community of Ontario and beyond. Children might see hope for their futures if they understood that their potential to achieve is unlimited and should be encouraged.

61. The Pikangikum First Nation, Chief and Council should pass a Band Council Resolution requiring that an accurate census be taken of all the children in the community who are of school age.
62. The Pikangikum First Nation, Chief and Council and the Pikangikum Education Authority should pass a Band Council Resolution requiring children to attend school until 18 years of age. This reflects the reality that children and youth with good school and social connectedness are more likely to have positive educational outcomes and less likely to be involved in health risk behaviours and experience subsequent mental health issues.⁴ Examples of health risk behaviours and mental health issues include gasoline sniffing, depression and suicide.

D3. Truancy

Children are not required to attend school by their families. The First Nation’s education is not governed by the provincial Education Act. In the province, section 21(1) of the Education Act R.S.O. 1990 sets out that all children between the ages of six and 18 shall attend school. The requirement is that they attend school each day. Section 116 and 117 of the Indian Act sets ages between six and 16 years of age.

Recently, Grand Chief Stan Beardy attended at Eabametoong First Nation with federal dignitaries, including Governor General David Johnston’s wife, as was reported in the Toronto Sun, November 7, 2010:

Grand Chief Stan Beardy, of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, said the community is putting together an action plan, with programs aimed at reconnecting young people with the land and with traditional values. In the longer term, he says they need job training and marketable skills and the community needs an opportunity for wealth creation. “What is happening here in Fort Hope—Eabametoong—is happening in Ontario. It’s happening within Canada, one of the richest countries in the world. And it is not acceptable, where people commit suicide because they just don’t see hope for themselves,” he said.⁵

His messaging is abundantly clear. The youth need to be anchored to the foundation of their past, but require “job training” and “marketable skills” for their futures. In contemporary society, the recognition for the need for education is unparalleled. It becomes difficult to understand what dreams might be fulfilled in the futures of First Nations youth without an education.

When reviewing the age and educational levels of First Nations, the Regional Longitudinal Health Survey 2002/03 made it clear that the elderly and the young are least likely to have attained at least a high school education. In addition, there is a substantial difference between First Nations and the remainder of the Canadian population, intensified for those First Nations adults living on reserve. These tables are taken from the Regional Longitudinal Health Survey 2002/03.

The OCC was told that truancy usually begins at less than 10 years of age. The children’s parents are not up in the morning to get them ready for school, and so the children simply do not go to school. They often come from homes where alcoholism is a problem. Their life situations are further compounded as their best opportunity for adequate nutrition comes from the school, which provides two meals a day. The OCC was told that these children often slip into the subculture of solvent sniffers which become their surrogate family as they become increasingly remote and alienated from the school.

“Although drug and/or alcohol abuse is a risk factor for suicide that needs to be addressed, this is another “risk behaviour” that is most often studied from an individual perspective – yet it cannot be understood in a vacuum without the social context of history and its outcomes. It is argued that social factors are the most important determinants of such problems: when people become dislocated from their families, and from their cultures, they often “give themselves over” to a substance or a thing (such as drugs, alcohol, gambling or the Internet) to survive the pain of their existence. Indeed, addiction becomes common when culture is destroyed within a people. Here, the results of the residential school experience fit well. In sum, although individual differences in vulnerability to addiction do exist, and it is known that substance abuse adds a layer of complexity and often violence to the problems inherent within a community, the focus of overall healing should not be on the individual. Thus, in addition to individual culturally-appropriate treatment and support, the focus of change should be on powerful social determinants – the social and political aspects that could work to reshape society to create meaning and reintegration with culture and family in everyday life.”⁶

All of the children who committed suicide were of school age and most had been out of school for years in several cases. 520 children are enrolled in school in Pikangikum this calendar year and it is estimated that another 350-500 are eligible to be in school. The Office of the Chief Coroner’s Panel commented that children who are out of school do not engage in any programming, are prone to abusing solvents, and become disengaged and isolated. Lack of parental direction to encourage school attendance may also suggest challenging environments in their homes. These are risk factors for subsequent suicide. The Panel members opined that the children need programming and education to prepare them for the next steps in their lives. Also, effective suicide prevention programs are most effective when administered beginning at early ages through the school system. This is vital education to assist these children.

Recommendations

Pikangikum First Nation and the Pikangikum Education Authority (PEA)

63. Secondary school education at Pikangikum School should improve to a level so that its graduates will be capable and willing to face the challenges of post-secondary education at the trades, college or university level. The PEA should develop options so that children who might have the potential and interest to achieve higher levels of post-secondary education can do so comfortably in Pikangikum, or in First Nations’ operated schools off-reserve in areas such as Pelican Falls and Thunder Bay should this be in the best interests of the student.
64. The Pikangikum Education Authority, retaining expertise available from the provincial Ministry of Education, should consider developing an e-learning program at the secondary school level. The community may also wish to utilize the expertise of the Keewaytinook Internet High School in developing an e-learning program.

The leadership of the PEA, Chief and Council should aggressively pursue this option. The children of Pikangikum today, promise to be the leaders of tomorrow, and need all of the opportunities possible to develop their potential.

Pikangikum First Nation and the Pikangikum Education Authority (PEA)

65. The Pikangikum Education Authority should liaise with the Pikangikum Health Authority for the purposes of providing a public health nurse in the school to assist with such issues as solvent abuse and sexual and reproductive health. The public health nurse should be readily available to the youth and deliver the services through offices in the school. Funding may be available for this via a community health nurse provided by Health Canada’s, Primary Health Care service.
66. The Pikangikum Education Authority should consider developing a Day Nursery attached to the school and complying with the requirements of the Day Nurseries Act, R.S.O 1990 in providing for child care services to the community and for students of the school.
67. The Pikangikum Education Authority should consider developing and implementing a full-day kindergarten program.
68. Given the extraordinary level of solvent abuse and its consequent neurocognitive damage and the probable high presence of Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) in the community, the Pikangikum Education Authority should aggressively pursue funding and the development of programs for special education needs. In particular, screening for FASD and testing for solvent abusing children and youth should be conducted for those “at risk”.
69. Remuneration for teachers at the Pikangikum School should follow the provincial salary grids. A pension plan should also be made available to the teachers. If possible, this should occur through the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. Professional development support should be identified and accessioned for the teachers, through the provincial Ministry of Education.

Educators explained that formalized child care services do not exist in the community. The rate of teen pregnancy is high. Young women who leave the school system to bear children never return. Child care services would allow these women to attend school and maintain contact with their children. Also, the presence of poverty and social problems on-reserve necessitate early childhood education programs to ensure that children are receiving valuable nurturing; nutritionally, physically and emotionally, that they might not otherwise receive.

“Health is not only experienced across physical, spiritual, emotional and mental dimensions, but it is also experienced over the life course….Early child development follows, in which the circumstances of the physical and emotional environment impact not only the child’s current health but sets the ground work for future vulnerabilities and resiliencies.”⁷

Given the extraordinary stressors of life in Pikangikum and the high birth rate, full-day kindergarten would improve education and likely, health outcomes for children. It is arguable that there is not a community in Canada where early childhood education and kindergarten could have a more beneficial effect on the lives of children.

The teachers’ pay was reported as not being comparable and not following provincial salary grids. There is no pension plan available to the teachers and they do not contribute to the Ontario Teacher’s Pension Plan. The teachers do not have access to professional development support. The effect is predictable; teachers stay in the community for a short period of time, generally 3-4 years.

Federal Government, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC)

70. Funding for First Nations education should be provided by INAC at a level comparable to that provided to other children and youth being educated in the province of Ontario.

Inadequate Funding

One of the striking disparities that exists with education of First Nation children is the funding disparity between what the Province of Ontario provides per child, and what the federal government provides. The obligation for federal funding for education arises from the Indian Act section 114(2) Schools:

The Minister may, in accordance with this Act, establish, operate and maintain schools for Indian children.

In 2008-09, the estimated per pupil average cost for a band-operated school was $4,127, compared to projected per pupil provincial funding of $9,976 for the same period.⁸ There are some similarities between the variables used in the band-operated formula and the Ontario funding formula, but comparisons are not direct. Further analysis would be required for a completely accurate comparison, as the above band-operated funding formula per pupil amount does not include funding provided by INAC to First Nations through proposal-based initiatives. Many of these proposal-based initiatives include funding for components incorporated in the per-pupil funding.⁹ As a result, the federal funds provided per-pupil may in fact be higher than the figure provided above. What the federal government actually pays for First Nation education on-reserve is not clear. There is however, broad consensus that it does not meet what is spent by the Province of Ontario for its students, and falls thousands of dollars short. Whether it is the Federal Auditor General Sheila Fraser, or the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report on capital spending on First Nations schools in 2009, or the concerns of the Assembly of First Nations, there are short falls with funding education of First Nations children and youth on reserve.

The Province of Ontario, through the Ministry of Education provides per-pupil funding projected to be $10,730 for 2010-11. The amount has grown since 2002-2003 from $7,201. This equals a 49% increase from the 2002-2003 year.¹⁰ The current band-operated funding formula was developed in 1988. The formula has not been indexed to the cost of living since 1996, but rather is capped at 2% annual growth. ¹¹

The most compelling issue is the children themselves. The children and youth of Pikangikum are likely among the neediest in the province as well as the country. They live in an impoverished environment, with overcrowding, lack of basic necessities such as running water and indoor toilets and where domestic violence, alcohol abuse, loss, isolation, fears of abandonment and possibly sexual abuse are realities. Neglect, crime, physical assaults, solvent abuse and suicide are not uncommon. These are the very children who require the most educational resources. Even the successful children produced by the school suffer with an age/grade gap of three years. These children may be suffering with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, and be developing cognitive impairments as a result of their solvent abuse. English is generally not their first language.

To prepare them for the contemporary world both in and outside of Pikangikum, they need intensive, organized, individualized education plans. It is difficult to support formula-based “head count” funding in this unique population. Funding should in fact, be student focused and predicated on student success. The funding for First Nations children has not kept pace with inflation, let alone educational needs, as it was frozen at 2% per year in 1996 by the federal government. This means that federal funding allocations for the education of First Nations children living on reserve rose 16% from 2002-2003 compared to a rise of 49% from the same period for children receiving their education from the Province of Ontario. The gap in funding becomes larger each year, and likely, is equally reflected in the educational outcomes for the children. The First Nation children and youth will continue to be left further and further behind.

The provincial Ministry of Education provided a fall 2009 progress report on the implementation of the Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework called Sound Foundations for the Road Ahead. In that document, the Ministry stated:

“Differences in funding approaches between the federal and provincial governments were identified as a consistent concern. Specifically, there is a significant gap between the provincial funding for school boards and the level of funding provided to First Nations by the federal government through the Band-Operated Funding Formula.”¹²

71. INAC should fulfill its commitment to build a new school in Pikangikum as soon as possible. The school should be built to;

• accommodate all children currently of school age and projected into the future,
• include children’s playgrounds, soccer fields, baseball diamonds, and basketball courts,
• include an auditorium where community members can gather for traditional and cultural community events, and
• include a daycare facility.

D4. Overcrowding and the Inadequate Physical Plant

The current school is a series of 17 portable buildings. In March, visitors from the Office of the Chief Coroner were asked to remove their footwear to ensure cleanliness. The floors were so frigidly cold, that representatives from the OCC had to keep their feet off the floor to keep warm.

The old school, which burned down, was maximally utilized for a variety of social functions. Assemblies were held whereby students stayed connected and programs were delivered within the building. No sense of school community exists with the current structures. There is no gymnasium. Each child gets gym once per week, at the community centre. However, the community centre also houses the courts every second week, which take precedence over school activities. Soccer fields, baseball fields and basketball courts do not exist. As such, healthy athletic activity is minimal, making children and youth more susceptible to the lure of solvent abuse from boredom. Children who are feeling isolated and lonely are being educated in structures such as portables which may enhance that feeling.

The Pikangikum First Nation has identified the following problems in their current series of 17 portable buildings:

Indian and Northern Affairs has apparently committed to building a new school. The Pikangikum Education Authority was unable to provide even an approximate date as to when the construction of the new school might begin. According to the Parliamentary Budget Officer’s report in 2009 on capital spending in First Nations schools, only 49% of schools were listed in good condition, 77 schools were housed in temporary structures, 20% of schools had not been inspected, and 10 schools were closed due to their condition.¹⁴

Picture 6 (July 2009) clearly characterizes the importance of schools and their ability to host community events. This was taken at Sandy Lake First Nation High School Gymnasium where children had gathered to meet Mr. James Bartleman, former Lt. Governor of Ontario and Mrs. Ruth Ann Onley, wife of the Honourable Lt. Governor of Ontario, Mr. David C. Onley. The school is a focal point for community activity. A stage can be seen at the far end, and recreational sports such as basketball can be played.

Picture 6. This was taken at Sandy Lake First Nation High School Gymnasium.

The school becomes the community hub. It performs a vital social function and in a First Nations community with limited infrastructure, the importance of a school with all that a full physical plant can offer can not be overstated.

Recommendations

72. INAC should fund:

• A public health nurse in the school at Pikangikum.
• A Day Nursery attached to the school to provide early childhood education.
• The special education needs of the children and youth of Pikangikum. This should include general screening for Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), with plans to support both these needy children and those suffering with solvent abuse in their educational pursuits. This presents a potential link with the Foetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Initiative offered by Health Canada, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch.

Educators explained that formalized child care services do not exist in the community. The rate of teen pregnancy is high. Access to informed choices for birth control may be an issue. Young women who leave the school system to bear children never return. A Day Nursery would allow these women to attend school and maintain contact with their children.

Also, the presence of poverty and social problems on-reserve necessitate early childhood education programs to ensure that children are receiving valuable nurturing; nutritionally, physically and emotionally, that they might not otherwise receive.

“Health is not only experienced across physical, spiritual, emotional and mental dimensions, but it is also experienced over the life course….Early child development follows, in which the circumstances of the physical and emotional environment impact not only the child’s current health but sets the ground work for future vulnerabilities and resiliencies.”¹⁵

Given the extraordinary stressors of life in Pikangikum and the high birth rate, full-day kindergarten would improve education and likely, health outcomes for children. It is certainly a community where early childhood education and kindergarten would have a tremendous effect on the lives of children.

Federal Government, Province of Ontario, and the Chiefs of Ontario

73. The federal government, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada, the Chiefs of Ontario and political First Nations organizations such as the Nishnawbe Aski Nation, and the Province of Ontario, Ministry of Education, Aboriginal Education Office should convene a meeting to begin a dialogue about the transfer of the delivery of education to First Nations children and youth living on-reserve residing in Ontario from federal to provincial jurisdiction. This in no way should be construed as an effort to negate the constitutional and treaty obligations of the federal government with respect to funding First Nations education, but rather, using the established resources and expertise of the provincial government, redirects the focus on planning, execution, delivery and outcomes for First Nations youth residing in Ontario, in essence, the quality of education provided to First Nations children and youth in the province.

D5. Federal and Provincial Involvement in Education Delivery

According to the 2006 census, there are approximately 1,200,000 Aboriginal people in Canada. Aboriginal people include First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The number in Ontario is approximately 250,000, or 21% of the total number of Aboriginals in Canada. There are approximately 160,000 First Nations people in Ontario.¹⁶ There are 50,312 Aboriginal students who attend elementary and secondary schools in Ontario.¹⁷ Of the First Nations children and youth, 18,300 live in jurisdictions of provincial school boards and attend provincial schools, 20,100 live in First Nations communities and attend federally funded elementary and secondary schools, and 5,212 who attend provincially funded schools under a tuition agreement, provided by federal funding.

Education is provided to First Nations children and youth in three ways:

This is the situation in the Pikangikum First Nation.

In the past, some children in Pikangikum who had demonstrated both an interest and ability in academics were eligible to leave the community to attend high school in Pelican Falls. However, the OCC was told that this option is no longer available.

“According to 2001 Census data, there is a significant gap between the educational attainment of the Aboriginal population and that of the non-Aboriginal population. Many Aboriginal people have few employment skills and lack the academic/literacy skills needed to upgrade their qualifications in an increasingly knowledge-oriented labour market.” ²¹

The Province of Ontario, through the Ministry of Education, Aboriginal Education Office produced a document entitled, Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework. This seminal document described the strategic directions for delivering quality education to Aboriginal students in Ontario’s provincially funded schools. The following are excerpts taken from this document, which provides a clear understanding of the provincial government’s priorities with respect to education of First Nations.

“The Ontario government is dedicated to excellence in public education for all students, including First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students. This position is reflected in Ontario’s New Approach to Aboriginal Affairs, released by the government in June 2005, which envisions prosperous and healthy Aboriginal communities that will create a better future for Aboriginal children and youth. Ontario and Aboriginal leaders recognize the importance of education in improving lifelong opportunities for First Nation, Métis, and Inuit children and youth. Ontario’s New Approach to Aboriginal Affairs commits the government to working with Aboriginal leaders and organizations to improve education outcomes among Aboriginal students. Acting on this commitment, the Ministry of Education has identified Aboriginal education as one of its key priorities, with a focus on meeting two primary challenges by the year 2016:

The ministry recognizes that, to achieve these goals, effective strategies must be developed to meet the particular educational needs of First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students.”²²

The same document sets out the vision, policy statement and framework principles to achieve the primary challenges it has set out.

…Vision

First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students in Ontario will have the knowledge, skills, and confidence they need to successfully complete their elementary and secondary education in order to pursue postsecondary education or training and/or to enter the workforce. They will have the traditional and contemporary knowledge, skills, and attitudes required to be socially contributive, politically active, and economically prosperous citizens of the world.

Policy Statement

The Ministry of Education is committed to First Nation, Métis, and Inuit student success. Through cooperation and partnerships with First Nation, Métis, and Inuit families, communities, and organizations, First Nation governments and education authorities, school boards, other Ontario ministries, the federal government, the Ontario College of Teachers, and faculties of education, the ministry is committed to developing strategies that will:

Framework Principles

The First Nation, Métis, and Inuit Education Policy Framework are guided by the following principles:

The Government of Ontario believes quality education is essential for the continuing development of both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities.

The academic achievement of every First Nation, Métis, and Inuit student is supported through the delivery of quality education. The Ministry of Education provides support and resources adapted to the specific needs of First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students.

The Government of Ontario creates and nurtures an academic environment for every First Nation, Métis, and Inuit student that promotes the development of a positive personal and cultural identity, as well as a sense of belonging to both Aboriginal and wider communities. The Government of Ontario creates and supports an academic environment that fosters First Nation, Métis, and Inuit languages and cultures. It acknowledges the diversity found in First Nation, Métis, and Inuit communities and endorses learning about First Nation, Métis, and Inuit cultures, histories, and perspectives in the public education system.

Cooperation among governments, ministries, educational institutions (including the Ontario College of Teachers and faculties of education), and First Nation, Métis, and Inuit families, communities, and organizations is essential for the implementation of education programs and services designed to meet the specific needs of First Nation, Métis, and Inuit students, regardless where they live.

The Government of Ontario respects Aboriginal and treaty rights protected by Section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.²³

As detailed in the forgoing, the outcomes for the children of Pikangikum for education were poor. It becomes conceivable that without any possibility for prosperity in their futures, hopelessness may set in and the contemplation of suicide may become an option. Education is essential for the future of First Nations youth.

There are a variety of reasons why the province is better suited to deliver education to First Nations:

The Ontario Aboriginal Education Strategy, launched in 2007 with the release of the Ontario First Nation, Métis and Inuit Education Policy Framework, has been designed to help improve opportunities for First Nation, Métis and Inuit students – whether they live in remote areas or in urban areas. This strategy sets the foundation for improving achievement among Aboriginal students in provincially funded schools and supports life long learning as students transition to postsecondary education, training or workplace opportunities.

Ontario continues to work with the federal government and our First Nation partners to improve the relationship between our provincially funded schools and schools on reserve.

To increase support for First Nation students, a tripartite steering committee has been formed with the purpose of developing a targeted First Nation Student Achievement Strategy.  The steering committee includes representation from the Chiefs of Ontario, the Ontario ministries of Education and Aboriginal Affairs, and the federal Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.

Ultimately, First Nations children and youth growing up in the province, whether on-reserve or off-reserve, are collectively, all our children and youth. Ethically, morally and intellectually, why would the citizens of Ontario continue to permit its neediest children to go without the educational advantages afforded to all its other children? Ontario operates one of the best educational systems in the world….except for First Nations children on reserve, where it plays a limited, if any, role.

Recommendation

Nishnawbe Aski Nation

74. The First Nations communities in the Nishnawbe Aski Nation should consider developing a First Nation School Board for the North. This might be created by liaising with NAN and other stakeholders such as Northern Nishnawbe Education Council (NNEC), the provincial Ministry of Education, and ensuring First Nation representation by inviting elected membership from each of the Tribal Councils. The Board might wish to set as some of its many goals, enhanced student achievement, models for the effective stewardship of resources, and delivery of education uniquely First Nations respecting culture and tradition.

Currently, there is a lack of services available in Pikangikum that would be available to schools operating in the province under school boards. For example, school psychologists, speech pathologists, curriculum co-coordinators, student service workers and psychometric testing, to name a few. Pooling of collective resources under a First Nations Board may allow communities to make these services available.

The First Nations School Board could:

• Promote student achievement as well as physical and mental health.
• Provide for models of planning for effective stewardship of limited resources ensuring a student focus.
• Develop and maintain policies and organizational structures that encourage positive outcomes such as setting guidelines for truancy.
• Assist students with defining their educational goals and encourage them to pursue them.
• Monitor and evaluate student outcomes.
• Monitor and evaluate effectiveness of policies developed by the Board.
• Develop multi-year plans directed at enhancing student outcomes.

D6. Concluding Remarks

There is no substitute for a quality education in preparing the youth of Pikangikum for the trials of life.

Many recommendations were generated around health care; these are presented to address access to care and promote suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention of the individual, family and community. In other words, the necessary health-mediated actions to prevent an “at risk” youth from committing suicide.

The greater issue is how to create resiliency in a child so that suicide is never a viable option or choice. The answer lies largely in education, which will promote hope and aspirations for the future. The greatest challenge facing Pikangikum is not in healthcare delivery, but rather, in creating an educational system that begins with early childhood education, and ends when the successful high school graduate goes onto post-secondary education in trades (vocation), colleges or a university. Upon graduation, that youth will have learned the skills that will make him or her competitive in any labour market.

When Pikangikum is capable of delivering and/or arranging the delivery of an education system of sufficient quality, their youth will be capable of moving readily onto higher education. At a future time, a critical mass of these skilled and knowledgeable young adults will return from their post-secondary education and become the future leaders of the First Nation. With best efforts, this may take about a half of a generation, or about 15 years. The Chief, Council, Pikangikum Education Authority and the parents must be committed and accountable for ensuring their children go to school. The whole of Pikangikum society must embrace and understand that education is an integral component of the solution to their social ills. Currently, the facility is highly inadequate. The curriculum at the high school level is not producing youth prepared for the rigours of post-secondary education for enrolment in a college or university, or vocational training, such as trades. The teaching staff is not remunerated in a way which inspires enduring commitment to the program, and the Education Authority does not appear to have accountability for student focused outcomes. All this must change, and there must be an absolute commitment to this change.

Shkylinik wrote the following about the community of Grassy Narrows in 1985:

“One can hardly conceive of a non-native community in Canada where almost half of the entire population of school-age children would be allowed to withdraw from school.

Poor attendance virtually guarantees that children will fall further and further behind in terms of grade progression. If a child never fully masters the basic concepts of language and the arithmetic skills that are normally learned in kindergarten and grades one through three, he or she becomes discouraged by the inevitable repetition of the lower grades and quits school permanently.”²⁴

In Pikangikum, the child that is out of school begins to fall victim to the lure of solvent abuse, develops neurocognitive damage, depression, and at times, commits suicide. The education system has a large part of the answer; it just needs to provide it.

¹ Personal conversation, Principal Mr. Phil Starnes, March 6, 2010.

² http://www.nnec.on.ca.

³ http://www.nnec.on.ca/administration.

⁴ Looking for Something to Look Forward to: A Five-Year Retrospective Review of Child and Youth Suicide in B.C. Child Death Review Unit, BC Coroners Service, 2008, p. 47.

⁵ The Toronto Sun, November 7, 2010, p. 19.

⁶ Finlay, J, and Nagy, A, Pikangikum – Root Causes of Youth Suicide Within a Remote First Nation, January 17, 2011, p.20, in publication.

⁷ Reading, CL., and Wien, F., Health Inequalities and Social Determinants of Aboriginal Health, National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, 2009, p.3.

⁸ This information was obtained through the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Province of Ontario, October 20, 2010.

⁹ This information was obtained through the Office of the Assistant Deputy Minister, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Province of Ontario.

¹⁰ Ibid.

¹¹ Ibid.

¹² Sound Foundations for the Road Ahead, 2009. Ministry of Education, www.edu.gov.on.ca.

¹³ See Appendix 5.

¹⁴ http://www2.parl.gc.ca/sites/pbo-dpd/documents/INAC_EN.pdf.

¹⁵ Reading, CL., and Wien, F., Health Inequalities and Social Determinants of Aboriginal Health, National Collaborating Centre for Aboriginal Health, 2009, p.3.

¹⁶ En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aboriginal_peoples_in_Canada.

¹⁷ Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Education Policy and Framework, Aboriginal Education Office, Ministry of Education, 2007, www.edu.gov.on.ca., p.5.

¹⁸ Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Education Policy and Framework, Aboriginal Education Office, Ministry of Education, 2007, www.edu.gov.on.ca, p. 23.

¹⁹ Ibid., p. 24.

²⁰ Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Education Policy and Framework, Aboriginal Education Office, Ministry of Education, 2007, www.edu.gov.on.ca.

²¹ Ibid.

²² Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Education Policy and Framework, Aboriginal Education Office, Ministry of Education, 2007, www.edu.gov.on.ca, p. 1.

²³ Ontario First Nation, Metis, and Inuit Education Policy and Framework, Aboriginal Education Office, Ministry of Education, 2007, www.edu.gov.on.ca, p. 7-8.

²⁴ Shkilnyk, AM., A Poison Stronger Than Love; The Destruction of An Ojibwa Community, Yale University Press, 1985, p. 35-36.