The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Churchill MP Niki Ashton opposes a new federal program that sends job-training money to First Nations on the condition that young welfare recipients are forced to participate. A news release from Ashton's office calls the First Nations Job Fund a 'paternalistic workfare program imposed on First Nations youth.' She called on the Harper government to change course. The job fund, unveiled in the recent federal budget, has up to $109 million available over five years. The goal is to provide what the Harper government calls 'personalized skills development,' according to The Globe and Mail. The money will be offered only to First Nations that 'choose to implement mandatory participation in training for young income assistance recipients,' the newspaper reported. The fund also contains $132 million over five years to help reserves 'ensure compliance,' reported the publication. Critics of the program describe it as 'workfare,' a term for social assistance offered on the condition that claimants work for their cheque. It may not be a fair description since First Nations will choose whether to participate in the program. Those that do not will continue to distribute welfare cheques with no job-training requirement. Still, many details of the program remain unclear. Will all welfare recipients on a participating reserve have to take training? What happens if the participants complete the training and remain on welfare? Closer to home, will any of the reserves of northern Manitoba and Saskatchewan draw support from the fund? Like Ashton and her fellow New Democrats, at least some First Nations leaders have been highly critical of the measure. But not everyone is convinced it's a bad idea. A Winnipeg Free Press editorial published last week said the logic to reserves participating in the program 'is obvious: a brighter future for First Nations people.' 'Manitoba's native leadership should jump at the potential dividends to their communities,' read the editorial. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has said the government wants to 'ensure young recipients have the incentives necessary to gain employment,' according to The Globe and Mail.
