Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 30, 2015, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A9 O TTAWA - Last week Maclean's magazine ruffled a lot of feathers when it boldly proclaimed Winnipeg was ground zero for a racism problem in Canada that eclipses the issue in the United States. This week, The Canadian Press is reporting on Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada documents that declare the quality of life on Manitoba reserves is worse than anywhere else in the country. " Based on the UN Human Development Index, quality of life on Manitoba First Nations ranks the lowest in Canada," reads an AANDC Manitoba regional update report from 2014. It's another battering ram to the face in Manitoba, a province where aboriginals make up a larger share of the population than in any other province and where the province's economic future is more than just a little entwined with the economic success of First Nations. While there was plenty to criticize in the Maclean's report - there was clearly no metric to prove Winnipeg has more of a racism problem than say Edmonton or Saskatoon or Toronto - Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman ignored the sensationalism and rose to the occasion, admitting that, yes Winnipeg does have a racism problem and it's time to address it head- on. Within a week he had set up committees and launched a website to get a conversation started on the subject. It's not enough, but it's a start, and a public recognition that a problem exists and needs to be addressed. Contrast that to Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt, who confronted with reports from his own department showing just how bad things are on Manitoba reserves, wasn't available to discuss it. In his absence, a spokeswoman sent out a talking point saying " Our government believes that aboriginal peoples should have the same quality of life, the same opportunities and the same choices as all other Canadians." The reports - a series of 10 updates on the Manitoba region between 2012 and 2014 obtained by The Canadian Press through an access- to- information request - show Valcourt's own department has known for several years First Nations kids in Manitoba have the lowest graduation rate and are far more likely to live in poverty than kids on reserves in other provinces. While one in four First Nations kids across Canada lives in poverty, in Manitoba that number soars to nearly two in three. One- third of reserve residents in Canada are on welfare. On Manitoba reserves, it's almost half. Imagine if the government sat on a report that said two in every three kids in Winnipeg were living in poverty. Or kept it quiet that only one in four kids were graduating from high school in Brandon. " This is a real failure of leadership on his part," said Niki Ashton, the NDP aboriginal affairs critic and MP for Churchill. Her riding encompasses many of the most impoverished First Nations in Manitoba. Ashton said she was sitting in question period Thursday when the headline about Manitoba First Nations was sent to her electronically and she glanced across the floor to see if Valcourt was there. He was. " He's around, he's available," said Ashton. But she said she's not surprised because she believes the federal government has " actively obstructed" First Nations who try to improve their living conditions. Certainly the Treaty Land Entitlement process - established to ensure First Nations are finally paid out the land promised to them by treaties signed more than a century ago - isn't moving very fast, if it can be said to be moving at all. Last year, a grand total of 0.056 hectares was actually moved over via the TLE process - which if you're wondering is about one- tenth the size of the football field where the Super Bowl will be played this weekend. Ottawa has spent millions since 2008 battling against the idea of allowing the Kapyong Barracks site in Winnipeg to be approved as a Treaty Land Entitlement. The property - about 65 hectares - is prime real estate and could be used by First Nations as a development property that would bring in substantial revenues, and help them gain the kind of self- sufficiency many Manitobans often demand of them. " A recurring theme in Manitoba is that the federal government is nowhere to be found," said Ashton. " If they are found, they are creating more problems." Mia Rabson is the Free Press parliamentary bureau chief in Ottawa. mia. rabson@ freepress. mb. ca B RANDON - We may now have a better idea of what Gord Mackintosh was up to last week, when he announced he has been approached by representatives of Greg Selinger and Theresa Oswald to broker a truce between the two warring factions. He told the media that " there are deeply held and divided camps that have to come back together. There has to be forces at work to achieve that." " I'm going to be ' Switzerland' on this and I'm going to work with others to see how we can move along on the floor of convention together and then after," he added, " because there is an overriding interest to make sure there continues to be a strong party and strong government." If there was a time for Mackintosh to work to resolve the differences between the Selinger and Oswald camps, it was last September, when the NDP caucus was informed the party would be annihilated in the next provincial election if Selinger remained as party leader. If not then, it was in late October, before Oswald and her fellow Gang of Five members publicly attacked Selinger, breaking cabinet and caucus solidarity in the process. If not then - and it was probably too late by that point - it was before the party was plunged into a leadership contest that has divided the caucus and distracted the government from the daily business of governing. The fact Mackintosh sat on the sidelines after each of those important events occurred, when viewed within the context of Wednesday's report Steve Ashton is in the lead among the three NDP leadership candidates, hints at what the veteran NDP MLA's objective really is. Selinger and Oswald have known for the past three weeks the Ashton campaign sold many more memberships before the sales deadline than the other two teams combined. Given that every 10 memberships roughly translates into one delegate at the leadership convention, they knew Ashton would likely be in the lead after the first ballot and one of the other two candidates would be eliminated. With that humiliating prospect in mind, we should infer representatives of Selinger and Oswald did not reach out to Mackintosh to heal the rift in the party, but rather to facilitate a deal between the two camps to ensure whoever finished third on the first ballot would throw their support - and their delegates - to the other. It would be a cynical, backroom scheme to prevent Ashton from becoming party leader, echoing the informal arrangement that was struck between the two factions in 2009. Ashton's team knows that, and that explains why they have reacted negatively to Mackintosh's intervention. " The time for a mediator should have been months ago before we were thrust into this leadership crisis," says MLA Jim Rondeau. " We need a leader who can unify the party and bring us back together at the end of this current leadership process," he added. " We need a leader who is fundamentally committed to the principles of our party and has stood strong even in our darkest times. Steve Ashton is the only person who can be that unifying force for our party." That's the message Team Ashton is pushing in advance of delegate- selection meetings. Its success depends upon the ability of the Selinger and Oswald campaigns to convince the vast majority of their delegates the prospect of Ashton becoming party leader is so terrifying they must work together to prevent that outcome. In order to accomplish that objective, Ashton's rivals will have to openly articulate what they feel is so objectionable about the Thompson MLA that it should disqualify him from being NDP leader. It will be a tough case to make. Ashton is the NDP's strongest performer in question period, has been an effective cabinet minister on tough files and, unlike Oswald, maintained cabinet and caucus solidarity. Also unlike Oswald, whom many regard as a Liberal in an orange pantsuit, nobody questions Ashton's commitment to core NDP values. Rondeau is right to describe Ashton as a unifying force within the NDP, but will he also unite his rivals against him? The answer to that question will determine whether he becomes our next premier. Deveryn Ross is a political commentator living in Brandon. deverynrossletters@ gmail. com Twitter: @ deverynross A FFORDABLE housing has long been a community priority. Individuals and families need stable housing to access social services and succeed in training or employment. The province has added more than 3,000 new social and affordable- housing units since 2009, and has increased annual investments in repairs and maintenance tenfold in the last decade. While these investments have helped meet some of the need, more social housing - particularly larger family units with more than three bedrooms - is required. This is a key recommendation found in The View from Here 2015: Manitobans Call for a Renewed Poverty Reduction Plan being released today in Winnipeg. To address persistent poverty in this province, community groups have outlined this plan, which utilizes the work of on- theground experts and recent research. The findings are supported by over 90 organizations across the province. It builds on earlier recommendations we put forward in 2009. Given the ever- increasing costs of rent and inadequate welfare rates, in 2009 we recommended increasing the shelter allowance for those on employment and income assistance ( EIA). The province responded in 2014 with a new income benefit to be phased in over four years, which provides people on EIA and the working poor with more help to pay their rent. Community groups are calling for this new benefit to be implemented immediately. In 2009, we recommended increases to the minimum wage. Although the province has continued with regular increases, stronger action is needed - a job should help lift people out of poverty and not perpetuate it. Currently two- parent families with two children who are working full time at minimum wage live below the poverty line. The province is integrating training and hiring for marginalized populations into public infrastructure projects. It is also working with the community on a strategy to grow social enterprises. These non- profit businesses successfully train, hire and support people shut out of the workforce because of issues like a criminal record, a disability, or lack of formal education. A financial commitment is needed to implement this new social- enterprise strategy and bring more low- income Manitobans into the labour market. Poverty reduction cannot just be about jobs and better wages. We need investment in public services such as health care, early learning and childcare. While the province has made great progress on creating childcare spaces, the existing supply is not meeting demand. People also need community- led services that address complex challenges such as addictions, mental illness and low literacy levels. The province provides multi- year funding to organizations that deliver these social services in the communities where low- income people live. This support should be expanded to more organizations providing effective wrap- around services. Many are disappointed Manitoba's poverty rates are still too high, but statistics do not immediately respond to changes in government policy. Manitobans who work with individuals and families in poverty witness incremental effects daily and are confident we are on the right path. They know many Manitobans would be worse off had investments in recent years not been made and that even bolder action is needed if we are going to see more significant improvements. We need the province to build on investments that are making a difference. Today's release of The View From Here 2015 provides a renewed package of comprehensive actions for reducing poverty. The report is based on research and consultations with individuals and organizations who know what works. This comprehensive approach will help reduce increasing costs in health care, justice, social assistance and child- welfare systems as poverty is inextricably linked to these systems. Community groups hope this plan will provide a renewed foundation for future government action to reduce poverty in Manitoba. Kirsten Bernas is the research and policy manager at the Canadian Community Economic Development Network and a research associate at the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives Manitoba. IDEAS �o ISSUES �o INSIGHTS THINK- TANK A 9 Winnipeg Free Press Friday, January 30, 2015 PLEASE SCAN THE PAGE TO READ THE ENTIRE REPORT - THE VIEW FROM HERE 2015: MANITOBANS CALL FOR A RENEWED POVERTY REDUCTION PLAN Plan to cut poverty unveiled KIRSTEN BERNAS DEVERYN ROSS NDP truce talks too little, too late MIA RABSON Manitoba reserves the worst in Canada JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS FILES Children walk down a road in Red Sucker Lake First Nation in July 2010. A_ 11_ Jan- 30- 15_ FP_ 01. indd A9 1/ 29/ 15 8: 36: 55 PM ;