Open Letter to Harper Regarding First Nations University
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Open Letter
April 2010
To:
The Hon. Stephen Harper
Prime Minister of Canada
Dear Prime Minister:
In June 2008 you did what no prime minister before has been willing to do – offer
an apology to former students of Indian residential schools. In that apology you
noted that “Two primary objectives of the residential schools system were to
remove and isolate children from the influence of their homes, families,
traditions and cultures, and to assimilate them into the dominant culture.”
Now, less than two years later, your government is forcing the closure of
Canada’s only First Nations university -- the sole university in Canada based on
First Nations traditions and cultures. By refusing to restore full funding for
First Nations University, your government will now make it impossible for First
Nations university students to study in an institution based on First Nations
traditions and cultures.
There is a bitter irony in your government’s action, coming as it does after the
Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) has addressed all of the
concerns that have been expressed about the University’s governance structure
and after the FSIN, the First Nations University, the University of Regina and
the Government of Saskatchewan have entered into a partnership agreement to
ensure proper financial and administrative management of First Nations
University.
Your government’s refusal to restore full funding, which will cause the
University to close after August 31, 2010, is an act of disrespect to First
Nations peoples in Canada and a continuation of the very practices for which you
apologized in June, 2008.
We urge you to back up your 2008 apology by restoring full Federal funding to
First Nations University immediately so that it can grow and expand, not have to
wind down and close.
Yours truly,
Greg Allain
Université de Moncton
Moncton, NB
|
Eugene Richard Atleo (Umeek)
Research Liaison: University of Manitoba,
Associate Adjunct Professor: University of Victoria
|
John A. Baker
Department of Philosophy,
University of Calgary,
Alberta
|
E. Ann Clark
University of Guelph
Guelph, ON
|
Thomas B. Friedman
Thompson Rivers University
Kamloops, BC
|
Mark Gabbert
The University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba
|
Francesca Holyoke
University of New Brunswick
Fredericton, NB
|
Doug Lorimer
Department of History,
Wilfrid Laurier University
Waterloo, ON
|
Randy Lundy
Chair of Academic Council and Chair of English,
First Nations University
Regina, SK
|
Dan McDonald
First Nations Studies Department,
Vancouver Island University
Nanaimo, BC
|
David Newhouse
Department of Indigenous Studies,
Trent University
Peterborough, ON
|
Cindy Oliver
President,
Federation of Post-Secondary Educators
Vancouver, BC
|
Shelley Z. Reuter
Concordia University
Montréal, QC
|
Anver Saloojee
Department of Politics and Public Administration,
Ryerson University
Toronto, ON
|
Toni Samek
School of Library & Information Studies,
University of Alberta
Edmonton, AB
|
Penni Stewart
President,
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Ottawa, ON
|
Blair Stonechild
Department of Indigenous Studies,
First Nations University
Regina SK
|
James L. Turk
Canadian Association of University Teachers
Ottawa, ON
|
Allyson Anderson
Vancouver Island University
Nanaimo B.C.
|
Joanne DiNova
Ryerson University
|
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