THUNDER BAY – The federal and provincial governments are committing $10 million towards Nishnawbe Aski Nation’s action plan for Indigenous students coming to Thunder Bay for the upcoming school year.
The funding announcement was made jointly by federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett, provincial Education Minister Mitzie Hunter and NAN Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler in a statement on Wednesday.
The federal funding – $4.67 million over three years – brings the total amount of new federal funding for students who leave their communities to $14.3 million, according to the statement. That money will go towards coordinated on-call workers, increased accommodation rates, a boarding home pilot program and an urban living curriculum to talk about health, safety and succeeding in school away from home.
The province is putting forward $5.5 million, which will help support immediate steps to address safety and wellness of youth attending school away from their home community, enhancing existing education options for high school students who wish to continue their education in their communities and ensuring resources are available to accommodate students who wish to continue their education in other urban centres.
Concerns about the safety of Indigenous youth in Thunder Bay have escalated following the deaths of 17-year-old Tammy Keeash and 14-year-old Josiah Begg, who were both found in city waterways in May.
Those most recent deaths came less than a year after a coroner’s inquest probing the deaths of seven Indigenous students – five of whom were found in local rivers – between 2000 and 2011 produced 145 recommendations.
NAN leadership acknowledged many families had expressed a reluctance for their children to come to Thunder Bay for school in the fall and an emergency meeting in July included discussion of keeping the students in their home communities.
“This funding meets the short-term priorities established by our Emergency Education Task Force, and we are encouraged by the response of our provincial and federal treaty partners for immediate action to improve safety and education outcomes for our students,” Fiddler said in a statement.
