Factsheet – Making progress toward reconciliation

Press Release

The B.C. government has made significant progress on reconciliation with First Nations.

Efforts are comprehensive and across government, firmly rooted in principles of justice and fairness, and go beyond issues of rights and title.

The journey of reconciliation has different meanings to different First Nations communities and can take many forms, but the common goal is closing the gaps between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people on health, education, social well-being and employment indicators, addressing land rights, and strengthening cultures and traditions.

The Province and First Nations communities are making progress on improving the quality of life for Aboriginal people in B.C., and advancing long-term reconciliation through building respectful government-to-government relationships. However, there is more work to do.

Supporting greater economic prosperity through partnerships with First Nations communities is a major part of reconciliation. Treaties, resource revenue sharing, and education and health improvements are a few of the building blocks of reconciliation, and an important part of ensuring First Nations communities and Aboriginal people are able to be full partners in B.C.’s economy.

Closing the socio-economic gaps:

Economic and reconciliation agreements between B.C. and First Nations increased from less than 100 in 2005 to more than 440 in 2015.
Aboriginal unemployment rates dropped from 22.5% in 2001 to 16.4% in 2011.
The six-year high school completion rate for Aboriginal students has increased from 39% in 2000 to 63% in 2015.
In 2013-14, post-secondary credentials were awarded to 3,241 Aboriginal learners, an increase of 23% over 2009-10.
Aboriginal youth in custody rates declined by 45% between 2008-09 and 2014-15, from 61 youth to 33.

Economic and Reconciliation Agreements

First Nations communities have been left out of economic opportunities for far too long. Through economic and reconciliation agreements, the Province and First Nations are creating opportunities for lasting resolution of mutual interests, such as land use and social well-being.
The Province and First Nations have achieved more than 440 economic and reconciliation agreements, including more than 200 in the past five years.
B.C. is the first province in Canada to share revenue from mining, forestry and other resources with First Nations. Revenue-sharing is a path to partnership that flows a percentage of what the Province receives from resource development on First Nation’s traditional territories directly back into the communities to use where it is needed most.
Since 2003, the Province has shared more than $350 million through forestry revenue sharing agreements with 143 First Nations. In 2014-15, First Nations shared nearly $32 million in forestry revenues.
More than $22 million in direct mineral tax revenues from mining has been shared through 22 agreements with 38 First Nations.
B.C. has invested more than $6.5 million to support clean energy opportunities in more than 90 Aboriginal communities. B.C. has 39 clean energy revenue-sharing agreements with 31 First Nations.
For more on First Nations economic development, please see: https://news.gov.bc.ca/factsheets/factsheet-province-first-nations-pursue-economic-development

Treaties

Treaties are the most comprehensive agreement because they clearly settle Aboriginal rights and title and provide legal and economic certainty on Crown land. Treaties also remove First Nations from the federal Indian Act and provide the authority to deliver self-government to its citizens. Treaties are cost-shared with the federal government. B.C. has five treaties with nine First Nations.
Incremental Treaty Agreements are a made-in-B.C. innovation, which provide treaty benefits before a final agreement by transferring provincial Crown land to a First Nation community early to support economic and community development opportunities. B.C. has 18 of these agreements with 20 First Nations.

K-12 Education

B.C. has made significant progress in Aboriginal education over the past 15 years.
The six-year high school completion rate for Aboriginal students has increased from 39% in 2000 to 63% in 2015.
Each and every year, more Aboriginal students have stayed in school, performed better on provincial exams, graduated, and transitioned to post‑secondary institutions or training programs.
For 2015-16, B.C. is investing $66.2 million into Aboriginal education.
Fifty-six of B.C.’s 60 school districts have implemented Aboriginal Education Enhancement Agreements at the local level as a strategy with goals such as positively impacting racism and building awareness of the residential school legacy.

Post-secondary Education

In 2013-14, post-secondary credentials were awarded to 3,241 Aboriginal learners, an increase of 23%, or 607, over 2009-10.
The Aboriginal Post-Secondary Education and Training Policy Framework and Action Plan aims to increase the number of credentials awarded to Aboriginal students to more than 4,600 by 2020-21.

As set out in that plan, and in order to reduce financial barriers for Aboriginal students, the Ministry of Advanced Education has provided:
- $19.4 million in funding since 2012 for partnerships between Aboriginal communities and public post-secondary institutions to deliver programs in communities. To date, the program has supported over 1,500 Aboriginal learners in 66 communities through 81 projects.
- $12 million funding for the BC Aboriginal Award which provides financial assistance to Aboriginal students for post-secondary education and training.
- $4.3 million in one-time funding to establish an Aboriginal Emergency Financial Assistance Fund to support students experiencing a short-term financial crisis.
- $2 million in one-time funding to establish the Aboriginal Teacher Education Award which provides financial assistance for Aboriginal learners in teacher education programs.
- $3 million in funding since 2013 for financial assistance for Aboriginal students taking masters and doctoral degrees.
- Approximately $4 million in annual funding to 11 public post-secondary institutions for implementation of Aboriginal Service Plans which support programs, activities and services to meet the needs of Aboriginal learners.
For more, see: https://news.gov.bc.ca/factsheets/aboriginal-post-secondary-education-and-training-in-bc
B.C. Aboriginal Skills Training Development Fund commits up to $30 million over three years to support Aboriginal skills training, focused primarily on First Nation communities poised to benefit from LNG development.

Children in Care

In the last 10 years, the Ministry of Children and Family Development has more than tripled funding to Delegated Aboriginal Agencies to $96 million per year. These Aboriginal agencies provide child welfare and other child- and family-related community services.
Grand Chief Edward John has been appointed as senior advisor on Aboriginal child welfare to the Minister of Children and Family Development. John will work with Aboriginal leaders to help more Aboriginal children and youth secure a safe, caring, permanent family outside of government care.
A top priority for the ministry is ensuring Aboriginal children and youth have access to culturally sensitive mental health and substance use supports, as well as access to early intervention and prevention services to help ensure the cycle of intergenerational trauma and abuse does not continue.
The ministry is implementing cultural competency training for employees, caregivers and community social service agencies to ensure the needs of Aboriginal children and youth are thoroughly considered when decisions about their care are made.
The ministry is funding a new model of Aboriginal early childhood development that focuses on direct services and measurable outcomes for Aboriginal children and their families.
B.C. was the first province to endorse Jordan’s Principle, a child-first principle to resolve jurisdictional disputes between governments regarding payment for services provided to First Nations children.
The suicide rate for Aboriginal youth is four times higher than for non-Aboriginal youth, but the gap is slowly narrowing.

Domestic Violence

Aboriginal women in B.C. are nearly three times more likely to be victims of domestic violence than non-Aboriginal women.
That is why the Provincial Domestic Violence Plan includes a strong focus on Aboriginal people and cultural diversity.
In April 2015, under the three-year Provincial Domestic Violence Plan, government $1 million to develop community-based programming for perpetrators of domestic violence.
In September 2015, the Province invested $500,000 for 56 transition houses and safe homes to provide subsidies to Aboriginal women and children and to help improve access to transition-house and safe-home programs and services.
VictimLink BC is a toll-free, confidential, 24/7 help and information line that provides services in more than 110 languages, including 17 North American Aboriginal languages.
Provincial Domestic Violence Plan programs include:
- Moose Hide Campaign – This campaign, championed by the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres, aims to engage Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal men to stand up and speak out about the violence committed against women and children.
- Government supports the Roots and Seeds of Empathy prevention programs in early childhood settings and kindergarten classrooms. To date, schools have delivered Roots of Empathy programs in 345 school-based settings, reaching 8,625 students in 71.6% of the province’s school districts.

Social and Cultural

Through the Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation (MARR), government has formed the Minister’s Advisory Committee on Aboriginal Women and, in June 2014, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with First Nations leaders to work together to end violence against Aboriginal women and girls and improve their quality of life.
The First Peoples Cultural Council is a one-of-a-kind Crown corporation responsible to the Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation focused on revitalizing of Aboriginal language, arts and culture in British Columbia.
MARR established the BC Aboriginal Youth Workers Network, comprised of 140 diverse service providers, leaders and advocates supporting youth engagement and youth leadership development.
The ministry also supports the Unified Aboriginal Youth Collective, which has created an opportunity for government and Aboriginal youth leaders to work together on key issues that impact Aboriginal youth.
With over 75% of the Aboriginal population living off reserve, MARR, along with the federal Urban Aboriginal Strategy and the Union of British Columbia Municipalities, has been working with the BC Association of Aboriginal Friendship Centres and the Métis Nation, to develop and deliver the Off Reserve Aboriginal Action Plan (ORAAP).
ORAAP aims to provide better support for Aboriginal people in urban areas by increasing employment and education opportunities, and engaging with the growing Aboriginal youth population.

Sports and Reconciliation

Gordon Hogg, MLA for Surrey-White Rock, has been appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Youth Sport to the Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development.
Hogg will promote and advance youth participation in sport as an important element in building strong and healthy communities, with an initial focus on First Nations and Aboriginal youth.
The Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development, through an annual contribution of $680,000 to the Aboriginal Sport, Recreation and Physical Activity Partners Council, delivers sport programs and services to Aboriginal people in B.C.
In 2014-15, the Partners Council delivered programs to more than 13,000 Aboriginal people in First Nations, Métis Chartered Communities and urban centres at close to 400 events. The Ministry of Health provides funding for the Aboriginal Healthy Living Activities program, also delivered by the Partners’ Council.

Health

The Ministry of Health works closely with regional health authorities and partners to provide culturally-appropriate health-care services to Aboriginal people living on or off reserve.
Examples of this work include funding for 44 nurse practitioner positions supporting First Nations communities and the approximately 25 community-level health programs funded and supported by the joint Ministry of Health-First Nations Health Authority Project Board.
The Ministry of Health, in conjunction with Health Canada and Aboriginal organizations including the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA), has implemented the Tripartite First Nations Health Plan and the Tripartite Framework Agreement on First Nation Health Governance to develop and support programs addressing First Nations and Aboriginal health in British Columbia.
The Ministry of Health, with federal and provincial partners, has created the Tripartite Committee on First Nations Health, which monitors progress of implementation of the Tripartite First Nations Health Plan and the Framework Agreement; the committee releases an annual Report detailing the progress of implementation.
The Ministry of Health, via the Office of the Public Health Officer, releases five-year reports on the state of health of First Nations and Aboriginal people.
Regional health authorities, in partnership with the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA), provide assessment and diagnosis services for children with complex developmental behavioural conditions. Since 2006, thousands of children and their families have accessed services provided by 52 contracted agencies.
PHSA provides Indigenous Cultural Competency training to regional health authorities, the Ministry of Health, and the FNHA. To date, more than 11,000 employees have completed training programs designed to increase knowledge, enhance self-awareness, and strengthen the skills of those who work directly and indirectly with Aboriginal people.

Justice and Violence Prevention

Aboriginal youth in custody rates declined by 45% between 2008-09 and 2014-15, from 61 youth to 33.
In March 2015, the Province provided over $1 million in civil forfeiture grant funding to support 58 projects that focus Aboriginal anti-violence and prevention initiatives.
The B.C. government provides more than $660,000 in annual funding for Aboriginal-specific victim service and violence against women programs in B.C.
The B.C. government has implemented:
- Cultural awareness training for youth custody and community youth justice staff.
- Specialized Aboriginal programs that are available in both youth custody centres in the province (Prince George and Burnaby).
- Alternatives to custody for Aboriginal youth such as a community-based full-time attendance program for Aboriginal girls with substance use issues.
- Restructured community-based custody alternatives like full-time attendance programs and youth justice community beds to ensure they are addressing the needs of Aboriginal youth and that all programs are trauma-informed and culturally responsive.
Through the federal Aboriginal Justice Strategy, the Ministry of Children and Family Development partners with Justice Canada and the B.C. Ministry of Justice to support culturally- relevant community-based alternatives and/or supports to the formal justice system (e.g., diversion, restorative justice, crime prevention/early intervention, circle sentencing, court liaison).
Since 1997, mediation and other collaborative practices have been used as a proven mechanism to work through child protection matters. Today, nearly one-third of the 59 child protection mediators in the program self-identify as Aboriginal and many others have close connections to Aboriginal communities.
B.C.’s Limitation Act provides no limitation period for civil claims of sexual abuse or sexual assault while the claimant was a minor.

Missing Children and Burial Information

On March 28, 2014, through a Truth and Reconciliation Commission national event, the Minister of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation provided British Columbia’s data on the deaths of Aboriginal children between the ages of four and 19 years of age for the period of 1870-1984.
This was an important step in recognizing the scale of loss and suffering that occurred in the Canadian Indian Residential School system. The Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations protects burial sites under section 13 of the Heritage Conservation Act.

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