Ontario is stepping up to address First Nations issues: Editorial

Premier Kathleen Wynne’s apology and $250 million in funding are promising first steps to building new relationships with First Nations communities.

It’s never easy to say you’re sorry. But Premier Kathleen Wynne’s moving apology in the legislature on Monday for Ontario’s part in the mistreatment of First Nations peoples went a long way to acknowledge past injustices and was an important step towards building a more respectful relationship with aboriginal communities.

Just as important, with her promise of $250 million over the next three years to finance 26 initiatives to help right wrongs and build trust, Wynne made clear that Ontario no longer intends to stand by and brush off First Nations issues as something for the federal government to deal with.

Too often in the past, all provinces (Ontario included) have stood on the sidelines as aboriginal students fell behind in schools and native people filled the prisons. In these and other areas, the provinces could have used their expertise and resources to respond, but they either failed to act or dragged their heels. They hid behind the fact that the federal government has constitutional responsibility for First Nations peoples.

But with Wynne’s apology and 26-point plan, Ontario is stepping up. It is now the second province, after Manitoba, to officially respond to last year’s report from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission on residential schools, which called on all governments to work hand-in-hand to help resolve the issues faced by indigenous people.

At the top of the Ontario government’s sensible initiatives is a promise to make sure that students learn about First Nations history, including educating all Ontarians about “the horrors of the residential school system” and “the betrayals of past governments.”

That responds to key recommendations in the TRC report to make education about aboriginal issues and concerns a part of school curricula at all levels. Justice Murray Sinclair, the commission chair, has long advocated that approach, telling the Star last December that “children should be taught proper Canadian history; that’s how respect will be maintained.”

A new Canadian narrative that puts aboriginal people at the heart of the story and respects their culture can only help to build understanding.

Wynne’s apology comes just a week after the province stepped into another area that has traditionally been seen as a federal responsibility – health care on First Nations reserves.

Health Minister Eric Hoskins promised $222 million over the next three years to increase physician services, train front-line health-care providers who work with First Nations communities and create 10 new or expanded primary care teams.

It’s another sign that Ontario is prepared to act rather than wait for Ottawa. And it’s a welcome indication that governments may be ready at long last to put the health and well-being of indigenous people ahead of their jurisdictional squabbles.

Wynne promised other measures to address past wrongs, including putting in place a strategy to address systematic racism and discrimination directed against indigenous peoples; investing in mental health and wellness programs; and creating a justice system responsive to aboriginal legal principles.

It’s an ambitious agenda, and will take many years to implement. But it promises to represent a fundamental break in how the provinces address indigenous issues. The days of regarding them as Ottawa’s problem are gone, and that can only be for the good.