Aboriginal Affairs Ministers Meet in Winnipeg
- EFN Staff | November 19, 2013
Saskatchewan's Minister for First Nations, Métis, and Northern Affairs spent the past two days in Winnipeg meeting with his federal, provincial, and territorial counterparts.
Jim Reiter was attending the Aboriginal Affairs Working Group, consisting of ministers of Aboriginal Affairs as well as leaders from five national Aboriginal organizations.
Reiter says many topics were discussed, a key item being to close the education gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal students.
"We also reiterated our call for a national inquiry into missing and murdered Aboriginal women," though he says the federal minister is still reluctant to call one.
Much of the meeting was dominated by Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt's announcement about changes to disaster assistance for First Nations. Valcourt says the government is setting up a "single window" for bands to secure government funding.
For years, First Nations hit by disasters have turned to the province's disaster assistance program, which would then in turn submit a bill to the federal government, resulting in a heavy backlog of claims.
"I'm optimistic this will help streamline the process," says Reiter.
He says the province will continue focusing on improving emergency management and disaster relief, and says a big priority moving forward will be evaluating the federal government's proposed First Nations Education Act.