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org/whypovert y
Canadian government and churches create a nationwide
residential school system to remove Aboriginal children from their
families and traditions to assimilate them into the dominant
culture. Over 150,000 Aboriginal children attend these schools,
where many suffer emotional, physical, and sexual abuse.
1
Aboriginal Canadians granted the
same right to vote as other Canadians.
2
Last residential school closes in Canada.
4
Canadian federal government issues an official apology for the residential schools
system: Today, we recognize that this policy of assimilation was wrong, has caused
great harm, and has no place in our country.
5
- Prime Minister Stephen Harper


- John S. Milloy, A National Crime
(The residential schools)
consequences still
affect the lives of
Aboriginal people
today.
6
Aboriginal Canadians permitted
to serve on juries.
3
POVERTY &
HUNGER
EDUCATION
Number of children
living in poverty
within First Nations
families in Canada:
Aboriginal adults who
reported being
hungry but not eating
due to lack of money
for food in 2007-08:
Income gap between
Aboriginal and
non-Aboriginal
Canadians, 2005:
Number of First
Nations communities
under drinking water
advisories:
Rate of overcrowding
among First Nations
households compared
to those in the rest of
Canada:
Tuberculosis rates
among Aboriginal
Canadians compared
to all Canadians:
Rate of Aboriginal
youth suicides
compared to
non-Aboriginal youth
in Canada:
Funding gap between
on-reserve and
off-reserve schools,
per student:
Number of reserve
schools in Canada
suffering lack of access
to reliable running
water,computers,
libraries and
experienced teachers:
Percentage of students
living on reserves who
do not graduate from
high school:
7
10
11
12
13
16
15
14
8
9
HOUSING &
HEALTH
Median age of Aboriginal
Canadians:
Change in off-reserve Aboriginal
persons living in poverty from
1996 to 2009:
Rate of increase of Aboriginal
entrepreneurs, compared to rest of
Canada, 2001-2006:
Increase in market output if
educational and labour outcomes
for Aboriginal Canadians match
other Canadians by 2026:
Reduction in government
expenditures if these outcomes
are achieved:
17
18
19
20
21
17.8%
1 in 4
28.8%
3-7x higher
8-10x higher
2x
177
$2000-$3000
500+
60%
25
10% decrease
3x higher
$36.5 billion
$14.2 billion
A HOPEFUL
FUTURE
REFERENCES:

1, 5: Harper, Stephen. Statement of Apology - to former students of Indian
Residential Schools. In Canada. Parliament. House of Commons.
(June 8, 2008). Web.
2, 3, 16:
Stapleton, John. How long does it take to make policy? A meditation on
Government policy-making on behalf of Aboriginal people.
Policy brief. (2010)
4: Miller, J.R. Residential Schools. The Canadian Encyclopedia.
Historica Foundation. Web.
6: Hansen, Erin. The Residential School System.
Indigenous Foundations, University of British Columbia. (2009). Web.
7, 8:United Nations. Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Olivier De Schutter, Special Rapporteur on the right to food:
Visit to Canada from 6 to 16 May 2012. Statement. (May 16, (2012). Web.
9: Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. Aboriginal Income Gap. (2006)
10, 13, 14: Campaign 2000. Revisiting Family Security in Insecure Times: 2011 Report Card on Child
andFamily Poverty in Canada. November 2011.
11, 12: Public Service Alliance of Canada. PSAC Statement on National Aboriginal Peoples' Day.
(June 21, 2008) Web.
15, 17: Baluja, Tamara, and Oliver Moore. Do the math on native schools, Ottawa told.
The Globe and Mail. (July 13 2012). Web.
18: Murphy, Brian, Xuelin Zhang and Claude Dionne. Low Income in Canada: a Multi-line and
Multi-index Perspective. Statistics Canada: Income Statistics Division. March 2012.
19: Canadian Council for Aboriginal Business. A Snapshot of Aboriginal Entrepreneurs. (2006)
20, 21: 2001 Base Year. National Council of Welfare. The Dollars and Sense of Solving Poverty
Volume 130. Autumn 2011.
ABORIGINAL POVERTY