New annual funding aims to improve Indigenous learning in Ontario

The federal government is spending a significant amount of money to improve Indigenous student learning across Ontario.

Friday in North Bay, the Liberals announced they worked with the Anishinabek Nation Grand Council and the Kinoomaadziwin Education body to get a multi-million-dollar deal on First Nation school infrastructure and governance.

Friday in North Bay, the Liberals announced they worked with the Anishinabek Nation Grand Council and the Kinoomaadziwin Education body to get a multi-million-dollar deal on First Nation school infrastructure and governance. (Photo from video)

To further improve Indigenous education for First Nations students across Ontario, Indigenous leaders know they’ll need investment from the government.

"The right education costs money and making sure that we do it with intention," said Lise Kwekkeboom, vice-chair of the Kinoomaadziwin Education Body Board.

The government announced annual funding of $20 million on Friday for school infrastructure and governance. The money is going to the Kinoomaadziwin Education Body, the central administrative structure for the Anishinabek education system.

"First Nations people can control the curriculum, control the methodology, ensure that there is cultural, supports and education that happens naturally within their own community," said Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Gary Anandasangaree.

"There's no roadmap for this," said Kwekkeboom.

It stems from a new fiscal policy approach to educational self-governments implemented in 2019. Education self-government agreements allow Indigenous bodies to create an education system that meets the needs of students and is reflective of the nation’s cultural priorities.

Incredible opportunity

"We believe that there's incredible opportunity for us to expand, you know, bilateral, relationships and agreements within the education sector," Anandasangaree said.

The money will be split between the education body’s 23 participating First Nations across Ontario. Each will decide what they want to use the money for when it comes to education.

A big push will be to repair aging school structures and get them in the best shape to better support students.

"Repairing and creating the effective education spaces needed conducive to a healthy learning environment for our children that recognizes and supports the healing of the past," said Linda Debassige, Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief.

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While grateful to receive the new money, Indigenous leaders said that to get schools and curriculum up to standard, a lot more money will be needed in the future.

"There will be more needs as we go through the process of identifying as our communities go through those processes to make things right," Debassige said.

"And that's going to take time."

It’s expected approximately 2,000 students will now have the resources they need to succeed while remaining connected to the Anishinabek language.