Aboriginal Affairs minister Bernard Valcourt is defending the way his government has doled out money for the Urban Aboriginal Strategy.
Last week the government announced that the National Association of Friendship Centres will administer $43.8 million of the $50 million fund.
That means other Aboriginal groups will need to apply to the Friendship Centre’s National office for many funding proposals.
Already the Metis National Council has questioned the decision saying it had a verbal commitment to get some of the money, and had talked with the government about using it for economic initiatives.
The MNC also wonders why it has to apply to a service group for money when it used to apply to the government.
Valcourt says he thinks the Friendship Centre will do a better job of running the program than government bureaucrats and things will work out in the end.
“The National Association of Friendship Centres has proven in the past to be a very good collaborator to be able to leverage private sector investment and municipal sector investment and the provinces also, and I think they are capable of delivering these programs.”
He denies the arrangement will create divisions between Aboriginal groups.