Canada's only aboriginal-run university has been run into the ground.
Once considered "a beacon" for aboriginal education worldwide, the Regina-based First Nations University of Canada likely will close next month after Ottawa announced it would follow the province's lead and cut funding to the renowned school.
That stark reality crystallized yesterday with a terse written statement from Indian and Northern Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl, in which he vowed to end the federal government's $7.3-million annual commitment to the Regina-based school.
While the announcement was widely anticipated - following as it did a similar cut from the Saskatchewan government last week - many aboriginal and education advocates condemned the move, saying it disregards significant last-ditch efforts to reform the troubled institution and discredits aboriginal-run schools across the country.
The funding cut marks the final act in the school's five-year death march, punctuated by financial scandals, management mishaps and mass dismissals. The latest tribulations boiled over in December when the school fired its chief financial officer, Murray Westerlund, mere days after he issued a report claiming senior administrators and staff had received thousands of dollars for unused leave and filed exorbitant expenses during trips to Las Vegas, Montreal and Hawaii.
Mr. Westerlund filed a wrongful dismissal suit in January, bringing many of his accusations under public scrutiny and testing government patience with a university administration that has long ignored demands for reform.
"For some time now, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada has worked with the First Nations University of Canada to help it address long-standing, systemic problems related to governance and financial management of the institution," Mr. Strahl said in the statement. "There have been repeated delays by the institution to take action on these matters. This situation can no longer continue."
Federal and provincial grants comprised more than half of the university's $22.6-million revenues last fiscal year. Indian and Northern Affairs spokeswoman Margot Geduld said funds intended for the university would be reinvested in other aboriginal education initiatives.
The school's advocates contend that Mr. Stahl's decision overlooks substantial 11th-hour reforms at the 750-student institution. In recent days, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), which is responsible for appointing the school's board of directors, voted to dissolve the board and place senior management on administration leave. FSIN Chief Guy Lonechild later said a smaller, depoliticized board would be chosen, in accordance with demands from federal and provincial governments.
Mr. Lonechild declined calls for comment yesterday.
The Canadian Association of University Teachers has been a constant critic of FNU leaders, but yesterday expressed dismay at the federal government's actions in light of the last-minute reforms. "Unless you reverse your decision, the university will most certainly die," said the group's executive director Jim Turk in a letter sent to Mr. Strahl yesterday.
"Destroying First Nations University serves no one, as no other university in Canada fulfills the same function nor has the same relation to Canada's first nations peoples," the letter said.
Blair Stonechild, a long-time faculty member and expert in aboriginal higher education, said many see a strong link between aboriginal-controlled postsecondary education and self-government.
The experience of the past five years and the political interference in the operation of FNU have set back that vision, but he believes there are still important examples of aboriginal-run models, such as at the many tribal colleges that operate in Canada.
Prof. Stonechild, who clashed with FNU leaders over issues of academic freedom, said problems developed at the school when those in charge shunned the mainstream university system. Calls for reforms were ignored and the wider university community took little action.
"Sure there was almost a political takeover here, but at the same time people kind of stood by and watched this happen," he said.
Founded in 1976 as the Federated Indian College, the school earned university status in 2003 and soon attracted groups from South America and Australia interested in copying the Canadian model.
"It was a star, a beacon for the world," said Perry Bellegarde, who oversaw the institution's opening as FSIN chief in 2003. "To see it fall so far over the last five years is very disheartening."
Patrick White