Aboriginal Peoples and Poverty in Canada: Can Provincial Governments Make a Difference?

• Main Authors: Alain Noël, Florence Larocque, Université De Montréal
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Canada; First Nations; inuit
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.555.1724; http://www.cccg.umontreal.ca/RC19/PDF/Noel-A_Rc192009.pdf

territorial governments and representatives from all the major Aboriginal organizations in the country concluded an eighteen-month negotiation process with a consensus on a ten-year approach to close the standard of living gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Canadians (Patterson, 2006). The federal government, led by Liberal Prime Minister Paul Martin, promised to devote $5.1 billion over five years to improve relationships and accountability, access to education, health services, housing, and economic opportunities. Most importantly, all governments agreed that any progress along this road would require collaboration and mutual respect, and accepted that “Aboriginal peoples need the capacity to more effectively participate and contribute to the development of policies, programs and services that affect them. ” Multilateral regional processes and regular pan-Canadian forums for the First Nations, the Métis and the Inuit were planned to make this new partnership effective (First Ministers and National Aboriginal Leaders, 2005a). Many leaders spoke of an historic turn, which would at last contribute to reduce Aboriginal poverty (First Ministers and National Aboriginal Leaders, 2005b).