Ottawa

Attawapiskat math

Breaking down the federal government’s spending on the troubled reserve

While the government has now assumed control of the reserve, Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan told a parliamentary committee yesterday that officials from his department visited Attawapiskat in October, but that it did not receive notice of an emergency until last week.

The Star and Canadian Press report from the community. Paul Martin calls on the government to consider the Kelowna Accord. The Globe and Star editorialize.

In response to questions today about government funding for Attawapiskat, the department of Aboriginal Affairs sent along a spreadsheet covering fiscal years 2006/2007 through 2010/2011. That spreadsheet is available here as an Excel file. The prominent totals break down as follows.

Support for Band Council and Administration $6,291,235

Registration and Membership $110,800

Education
Elementary and Secondary Education $25,589,065
Post Secondary Education $5,524,500
Special Education $2,323,647
Youth Employment Strategy $28,500
Total $33,465,712 

Social Development
Income Assistance $4,856,133
Assisted Living $20,000
Family Capacity Initiatives $233,500
National Child Benefit Reinvestment $3,371,698
Total 8,481,331 

Environment Management $3,140,952

Community Investment
Community Economic Strategies $12,800
Community Economic Institutional Capacity $933,900
Total $946,700

Infrastructure
Community Infrastructure Assets and Facilities $5,485,309
Water and Wastewater Infrastructure $9,532,301
Education Facilities $9,307,998
Housing $4,300,567
Total $28,626,175

Including “advances for hydro arrears forgiven” and expenses related to a dike project, Aboriginal Affairs reports a total of $84,886,755 in funding.

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