Former prime minister Paul Martin had harsh words for the Canada’s ruling Conservative Party on Thursday.
Addressing the Assembly of First Nations’ annual meeting in Montreal, Mr. Martin, a Liberal, called the Tory policy on aboriginal education “immoral”
and “disgraceful.”
He said current government policy deprives First Nations children of any real chance of success.
Mr. Martin has spent much of the past seven years raising awareness about the need for better schooling on reserves and led a campaign to raise private funding for a $1.5-million pilot project at three First Nations elementary schools in Ontario.
While serving as prime minister from Dec. 12, 2003 to Feb. 6, 2006, Mr. Martin negotiated what became known as the Kelowna Accord that included measures to reduce inequalities between natives and non-natives.
After the Conservatives took power in 2006, it was never implemented.
The 1,400,000 Aboriginal People in Canada are the youngest and fastest growing segment of the country’s population.
The term Aboriginal refers to three culturally diverse groups: the First Nations, the Métis Nation and Inuit.
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