The co-author of a report on child poverty in Canada says it is shameful that 60 per cent of First Nations children on reserves live in poverty.
The numbers are even worse in Saskatchewan at 69 per cent, second only to Manitoba at 76 per cent.
Daniel Wilson put together the report for the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. He says it was a struggle to get the numbers.
Wilson says this type of reporting should be done as a matter of course by Indigenous Affairs. He says the department cannot properly address the issue if it does not keep track of it.
“The federal government and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada hold a great deal of responsibility to assert their authority over First Nations,” he says. “They control the funding for those communities, and they are making poverty for children worse.”
The think tank is recommending better tracking, improved income support and better employment prospects. Wilson says it is clear the situation has been getting worse, not better.
He commends the Liberal government for its new approach, but says the effort should be fast tracked.