Meegwetch, Mr. Blackned. Wachya. Kwe. Good morning.
Members of the Committee, chiefs, colleagues, my name is Edith Cloutier. I am Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue and Executive Director of the Val d'Or Native Friendship Centre. I am a proud Anishinabe from the Anishinabe Aki territory. I am very pleased to be part of this panel today and want to thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak.
I would like to introduce the rector of University of Quebec in Abitibi-Témiscamingue, Mrs. Johanne Jean, who is in charge of the youngest university in the network of the University of Quebec. This institution primarily serves students in Abitibi-Témiscamingue and northern regions of Quebec.
Like all Canadian universities, UQAT offers a number of programs that enjoy an excellent reputation in other regions. It also employs 100 instructors and researchers, and serves a student population of 2,400, 200 of whom are aboriginal students. UQAT has worked with aboriginal people for the past 25 years. You heard from Mr. Blackned about some of the work that's been done with the Cree Nation. The aboriginal people have chosen the university as a partner in training their human resources.
We offer programs leading to certificates and bachelor's degrees in management, early childhood education, primary and secondary school teaching, and social work. Our training programs are delivered both in communities and at our aboriginal campus in Val d'Or, in both English and French, based on the language spoken by the people from the communities as a second language, of course. To date, UQAT has granted 153 diplomas to Inuit, Cree, and Anishnabe Algonquin people.
I am going to continue in French, because that is my current reality.
We are honoured to have been invited to this forum to share our expertise regarding the challenges -- and we heard the representatives of the Assembly of First Nations -- involved in providing post-secondary training for Inuit and First Nations students.
Before discussing our approach and way of doing things, we would like to look at the profile of two students and draw a parallel between them. One is a non-Aboriginal student and the other, an Aboriginal student, both of whom are studying on the campus.
The first student we will call Louise Tremblay, and she is 22 years old. She is studying for a Bachelor's degree in early childhood education and primary school teaching. She has completed her college studies and is now in her second term at university. Today, she finished her last class at 4:00 p.m. She leaves the campus to go home to the apartment she shares with a flat mate. As she is running a nice hot bath to relax in, she turns on her computer to check her e-mail. Of course, a tasty dinner is simmering on the stove and she will need only two short hours to complete the work that has to be handed in the next day. Louise should have time to go out that evening to meet up with other students at the campus bistro.
The second student, whom we will call Bella Papatie, is 33 years old. She also finishes her classes and learning workshops at 4:00 p.m. She, too, is studying for a Bachelor's degree in early childhood education and primary school teaching, in a program whose curriculum has been adapted to First Nations culture. Bella worked in the daycare centre in her community of Kitcisakik, a village about 100 kilometres from Val d'Or, in the Laverendrye Wild Life Reserve. She dreams of one day teaching in a primary school in her community and wants to be legally qualified for that. Who knows? One day, she may go and teach in another community or in the city, when her children leave the reserve and enroll at a CEGEP. Her mother tongue is Algonquin. She learned French in primary school and it is more difficult for her to write in her second language than it is for the regular students. When she finishes her last class, Bella cannot go home to Kitcisakik immediately. She doesn't get to take a hot bath, or to turn her computer on: in her community, there is no running water, and no electricity. Everyone uses a small generator, and given the cost of fuel, it can be operated only a few hours each evening. Grandma puts a tasty dinner on to simmer on the wood stove, and looks after the children while waiting for Bella to come home. The house is small and is home to a family of 14 people: parents, children, grandparents and an elderly uncle. The fact that there are people everywhere means that Bella has no place where she can focus on her school work.
However, the Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue has provided assistance for Bella, as part of its comprehensive project to ensure that its Aboriginal students succeed. Bella and her colleagues stay on campus after their last class ends. They meet with a teaching assistant who provides guidance for them in their learning and helps them with their work. They have access to documents translated into English, if they come from a community where the second language is English.
In addition, a psycho-social assistant familiar with Aboriginal culture and practices is available to help them, if they need it. The student life advisor refers her to the Native Friendship Centre for any services she or her family may require.
As for the teachers, they have agreed to take on several extra hours of work in order to provide personal assistance to the First Nations group. Thus the university guarantees that Bella will be able to complete her program successfully, and that she will be able to use her diploma to teach in Aboriginal communities or in any school board of her choice.
At about 6:00 p.m., Bella will be able to set off for Kitcisakik, knowing that she has completed the work and studies that her timetable requires. The evening will be devoted to her family and her community, for whom she is a role model.
Louise and Bella's parents were born in the late 1940s. Louise's parents were born in Val d'Or in the hospital, Bella's in the forest. In the early 1960s, Louise's parents' society experienced tremendous upheaval, later known as the quiet revolution. Louise's mother had her future planned for her. She would complete and graduate from grade 12 and become a school teacher or a nurse. Her father, in spite of his talent, would go to work in the mine.
Then the government changed how things worked and opened the doors of knowledge to them. Secondary education was offered throughout Quebec. A network of CÉGEPs was established, and with it the extensive Université du Québec network. Louise's parents became a doctor and an engineer. Quebec had equipped itself with the most formidable tool for development by ensuring that a large majority of their population would be educated.
Unfortunately--and it is not for us to judge the people who wrote the history of Canada--the aboriginal people received different treatment. Bella's parents did not have access to primary school until it was decided that all the children would be taken away from their parents to be educated, and more importantly, to try to assimilate them into the dominant culture. The residential schools established for them were a failure, and the first nations are still suffering the consequences. Everything has to be rebuilt, and time is running out.
I think my time is also running out, so I'll jump to the conclusion, because I would like Madame Jean to conclude this.
On the first nations pavilion of UQAT, I agreed to chair the board of directors because I believe this institution is a partner with first nations, so that the short-, medium-, and long-term vision meets the vision of first nations that this institution will be controlled by and for first nations. It is in that vision and in that future perspective that we see this opportunity for our people to take over our own institutions and have educated first nations people take over in the future for us first nations people.
I would like to ask Madame Jean to conclude this.
Meegwetch.