Liberals given plan to roll First Nations education money out faster, but decided not to

Indigenous Affairs Minister Carolyn Bennett was presented with a plan to roll First Nations education funding out over four years as the Liberals had promised during the last election but the government ultimately opted for a slower route, earmarking a large part of the money for after the next election.

In a proposed funding document obtained under access to information, the department lays out a "projected investments"plan to meet the campaign promise of $2.6 billion in additional dollars over four years forkindergartento Grade 12school education on reserve.

The documents show much more money would have beenavailable soonerto address the dire state of Indigenous learninghadthe fast-tracked planbeen followed: nearly $3 billion more than current spending track.

Ultimately, the government decided to spend the money over five fiscal years.

• CBC INTERACTIVES|Grading the gap: First Nations education through the eyes of students teachers and parents
• First Nations education a cash-strapped 'non-system,' bureaucrats tell minister
• Two-tiered education funding: First Nation schools get less from Ottawa

Of the $2.6 billion committed in the2016 budget for kindergarten to Grade 12 education, $801 million (or 31 per cent of all money committed) has beenbackloadedto2020-2021, a spending practice the Liberals fiercely criticized during the last Conservative government. The next federal election must be held on or before Oct. 21, 2019.

Under the department's proposedplan, the money would have been more evenly allocated each fiscal year.

The fact that so much of the money has been put off until afterthe next electionalsomeans it might never be delivered, because a new government could have different spending priorities.

Emails obtained separately under access to information reveal bureaucrats knew they wouldhave trouble getting money out the door in the first year with funding coming too late to make a difference this school year.

"The first year of investments ... we'll have missed the nominal roll and initial budget cycles for anything new," a bureaucrat writes to his colleagues. Nominal roll is the term used by the department to refer to the students living on reserve that it funds.

'It was up to Carolyn to fight for them'

The first promise Prime Minister JustinTrudeaumade during the last election campaignwas the fundingcommitment for First Nations learners.

"We will make up for 10 long-lost years,"Trudeausaid in August2015, promising a new "nation-to-nation" relationship with Indigenous Peoples.

"Trudeau'sfirst promise was the first broken promise, and the fact that it was a broken promise to First Nations children is repeating a long, tired and terrible story in Canadian history," NDP'sIndigenous affairs critic, Charlie Angus, said in an interview. "They're nickleanddimingkids."

We have children suffering under a system that is an absolute failure. Everybody knows it.- NDP MP Charlie Angus

"We have children suffering under a system that is an absolute failure. Everybody knows it, but nobody seems to think that fixingthe system and putting that money in the pot is priority No. 1," Angus said. "Someone around the cabinet table decided they should shortchange First Nations children, and it was up to [Indigenous Affairs Minister]Carolyn [Bennett] to fight for them."

"She can't get up and say it's OKto shortchange children $800 million. She knows how bad this system is. She cares a lot, but her job is to fix this broken department and unless she's willing to transform the system, she's guaranteeing another decade of failure," he said.

The minister's office did not answer specific questions about why the election promise was broken, or who made the ultimate decision to push back some spending until after the next election. It did not clarify as to why so much of the money is backloaded, and if it was because of capacity concerns.

"Every child deserves the best start in life, which is why our government is focused on properly funding on-reserve education and moving forward on transformational change to support First Nation control of First Nation education," the minister's office said in a statement.

This development comes after CBC News first reported that bureaucrats in Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development raised red flags about the state of First Nations schools before the last budget, warning the newlymintedcabinetminister last November that there is a dauntinggap between what thefederal government and theprovinces are spending on education.

Grading the Gap

CBC News is investigating the quality of First Nations education on-and off-reserve in the wake of the federal Liberal government's pledge to spend $2.6 billion over five years on kindergarten to Grade12learning.

• Follow our Grading the Gapcoverage onCBCNews.ca, CBC Radio One, CBC News Network andThe National.
• Read stories about students on our interactive page:Grading the Gap

"Additional funding [is] required to support a new system more comparable to provincial systems," the 14-page briefing note cautions the minister, conceding that funding levels are "significantly higher" for provincialschools inremote and northern locations.

The document obtained through access to information also lays bare that most of the money the Liberals have committed to First Nations education was actually money the Conservative government had earmarked for its ill-fated Bill C-33theFirst Nations Control of First Nations Education Act which was shelved after opposition from some First Nations leaders in 2014.

Emails obtained through access to information reveal there was confusion in the department about the Liberal spending plan, with a senior policy adviser saying "it's hard tomake sense of" their election promise. "Do you think they assumed the C-33money was still booked?" one bureaucrat wrote in September.

"If I understand, this would not be new funds but rather the reassignment of funds based on a new direction forward," a special adviser in the department writes to her colleagues.

Angus said this exchange is proofit's difficult to keep track of the department's math.

"It's like you're arube at the country fair trying to play a shell game.It's hard to follow the money."

• CBC INTERACTIVES|Grading the gap: First Nations education through the eyes of students teachers and parents
• First Nations education a cash-strapped 'non-system,' bureaucrats tell minister