Indigenous student trustees to meet for first time in the Sault

EDITOR’S NOTE: This article originally appeared on The Trillium, a new Village Media website devoted to covering provincial politics at Queen’s Park.

Indigenous public school board trustees are lauding the province for approving funding to bring together Indigenous student trustees for the first time in Sault Ste. Marie this week. But they're still waiting for a meeting with the education minister, who they say didn't attend their yearly in-person meeting in Toronto nearly two months ago.

Algoma District School Board Trustee Elaine Johnston, who is chair of the Indigenous Trustees’ Council of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA), outlined the requests in an August letter to Education Minister Stephen Lecce. 

One was $30,000 for travel and accommodations for Indigenous student trustees to meet on the sidelines of OPSBA's Oct. 13–15 meeting that will bring together northern school boards in Sault Ste. Marie. There are 16–18 Indigenous student trustees under OPSBA, which represents English public district school boards across the province. The Ministry of Education has approved $30,000 in one-time funding for the meeting.

"I'm really grateful for that, because this is the first time our Indigenous student trustees will come together to talk about ... their role within the school boards, and some of the issues that they identify because we really need to hear the student voice," said Johnston, who told The Trillium she found out the funding had been approved last week. She said some students had previously said they couldn't attend because their school boards didn't have the money. "I think it's going to instill confidence in them as Indigenous youth leaders."

Indigenous students in her school board raised issues during the pandemic about mental health and having cultural rooms, for example, but she noted it'll be up to the students at next week's meeting to decide what they want to discuss and bring forward for support. 

Part of Johnston's Aug. 26 letter to Lecce was also to try to secure a meeting with the minister, something she said they're still waiting on.  

"While I appreciate your offer to attend Queen’s Park in September and be recognized within the Legislature, we would ask for more meaningful engagement in order to justify the expense of making a trip to Toronto from our home communities. I am requesting a face-to-face meeting as soon as possible this fall to discuss the urgent education needs of Ontario’s diverse First Nations, Métis, and Inuit communities," she wrote. 

Johnston said the Indigenous Trustees' Council meets in-person once a year — usually in August in Toronto. The education minister typically attends, but while Lecce was invited to the Aug. 10–11 meeting this year, he didn't make it, she said. She penned the letter after the council's meeting and after receiving the offer to be recognized in the legislature.

"The Indigenous Trustees' Council has had a good relationship with the minister ... and we're grateful for that, and so we're asking to continue that relationship and have that face-to-face conversation with us," she said, adding that Lecce attended the council's meeting last year along with several assistant deputy ministers and other ministry officials.

This year there were some ministry officials, but Johnston said the trustees did not receive the clarity they were looking for on changes to Indigenous education funding. 

"The ministry tells us it's more money, but we don't see it in our board funding, so this is why we were getting confused about (it)," she said.

Johnston said another priority for the council is their ask for an Indigenous language strategy.

"The problem that we're having is that, according to the ministry, in order for you to teach the language within the schools, you have to be a certified teacher, and so many of our language speakers are not certified teachers," she said. "So the challenge is the boards have to look at innovative ways to try and bring in language speakers."

In her letter, Johnston wrote, "We are all aware that we must act quickly to revitalize and maintain Indigenous languages in Ontario or risk losing them forever. This must be a priority."

Asked about the Indigenous Trustees' Council's meeting request at an unrelated press conference on Thursday morning, the education minister didn't provide any dates, but said he was "proud to deliver" the news on the funding ask. 

"I've attended meetings regularly with this council, we value their contributions and collaboration and I'm looking forward to seeing them again shortly," Lecce said. "They've extended an invitation to meet with them, we've met with them on weekends, on weekdays, really whenever we can, whenever they're in town in Toronto." 

Noting collaboration with the council, he pointed to the Grades 1–3 curriculum, which as of this school year includes mandatory content on residential schools, saying that this was one of the things the trustees advocated for. 

— With files from Jack Hauen