Ep. 078: Closing the Gap of Canada's indigenous communities

Guest: Perry Bellegarde, Assembly of First Nations

According to the United Nations, Canada is sixth in the world on the Human Development Index.

But if we only include First Nations, we would rank 63rd. That is according to Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde. He contends that when we close the gap in education, opportunity and living standards of indigenous peoples, Canada will benefit.

He points out the gap also “represents the disproportionate number of First Nations people in jails, the high youth suicide rate, the missing and murdered indigenous women, the 40,000 aboriginal children in foster care, the cap on education funding, the disparity in education funding, the high rates of tuberculosis and diabetes and aids. All these things it represents the negative stats. So we've gotta close that.”

Chief Bellegarde acknowledges the road from here to there will be bumpy and there will be many challenges. However, he says when we close the gap, the benefits will be to all. “If you invest in the indigenous peoples, by 2025 we would add 400 billion dollars to Canada’s GDP in a positive way, and we would reduce social spending to less than 200 million dollars.”