Feds cut funding to Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs

“Grand Chief” Derek Nepinak of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, Idle No More Rally in Winnipeg, Dec. 10, 2012.

By Alexandra Paul, Winnipeg Free Press, Jan 8, 2015

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs has received a jolt from the federal government, securing no more than four percent of its usual allocation in federal funding this year after officials rejected a series of projects ranging from energy to transitions to urban living.

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak decried the steep cuts today, saying Ottawa was failing to act in good faith and introducing “political” changes in procedures to secure funding.

Prior to 2012, AMC received a budget, including core expenses and projects, of $10-$15 million through Aboriginal Affairs and Health Canada. Aboriginal Affairs has imposed the latest cuts, $2 million last year and roughly another $2 million this year. The reductions represent a dramatic shift in national policy in Ottawa’s relations with First Nations lobby and service organizations in Canada.

Nepinak said the cuts came without warning, with the AMC only learning of them three-quarters of the way through the fiscal year, well after projects were underway.

“I feel that we have been misled to think that the Government of Canada, under the Harper regime, would act in good faith and support policy development from local and community based initiatives,” Nepinak said in a statement.

“Instead we have been forced to jump through hoops, expending our limited resources in order to meet February deadlines for proposals that didn’t get final evaluation until November, which is the end of the 3rd quarter of the fiscal year.”

Federal officials were not immediately available for comment.

The axe fell on an envelope of grants for research and related community projects. Aboriginal Affairs approved $106,000 from a total grant request of $2.6 million.

Proposals that were denied funding include renewable energy solutions for northern communities, policy frameworks on resource equity, environmental research and food security in Manitoba First Nations and proposals for helping First Nations residents make successful transitions to urban living from life on often remote rural reserves.

In addition to acting as a political lobby, the assembly conducts federally-sponsored research into health and aboriginal development.

Nepinak said the AMC had difficulty dealing with changes in procedures.

“Unlike previous years, the current process has turned purely political with proposals vetted through the minister’s office directly,” he said in his statement.

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