Latest news with #Jordan'sPrinciple
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
CUPE Alberta Calls on Minister Nicolaides to Prevent Education Crisis After Federal Funding Cuts
EDMONTON, Alberta, June 06, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CUPE Alberta is sounding the alarm over a looming crisis in the province's K–12 education system as hundreds of educational assistants (EAs) across the province face job losses following the withdrawal of most of the federal Jordan's Principle funding for non-reserve schools. Jordan's Principle is a federal policy intended to ensure First Nations children receive the services they need without delay, including in education, health care, and social services. In Alberta, this funding has helped support educational assistants in public schools, benefiting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. In a powerful open letter sent to Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides, Wendy Harman, President of CUPE 5543, warned that the cuts would be "catastrophic" for students with complex learning needs, behavioural challenges, and those on Individualized Education Plans. "This will devastate our Alberta schools," wrote Harman. "Now, we are actively choosing to let more children fall through the cracks, and those cracks are growing into chasms." Harman cited alarming figures from Parkland School Division, where some schools will see their EA staffing slashed by more than half, dropping from 11 assistants to just 5 for student populations of over 600. "Our EAs are not 'extras,'" she continued. "They are qualified professionals who de-escalate crisis situations, manage diverse learning needs, and play a critical role in allowing classroom teachers to teach." CUPE Alberta President Raj Uppal echoed the concerns and called on the provincial government to immediately step in with targeted funding to protect front-line education supports. "Educational assistants are the backbone of inclusive classrooms," said Uppal. "When we cut EAs, we fail students who need support the most. The Minister must act now, because these cuts affect every student in Alberta who relies on additional help to succeed." CUPE Alberta is urging the province to demonstrate real leadership by reversing the EA cuts, restoring jobs, and investing in a public education system that supports all children. clc/cope 491 View source version on Contacts Erin RolfsonCommunications Representativeerolfson@ | 403.795.5678 Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Business Wire
06-06-2025
- Politics
- Business Wire
CUPE Alberta Calls on Minister Nicolaides to Prevent Education Crisis After Federal Funding Cuts
EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CUPE Alberta is sounding the alarm over a looming crisis in the province's K–12 education system as hundreds of educational assistants (EAs) across the province face job losses following the withdrawal of most of the federal Jordan's Principle funding for non-reserve schools. Jordan's Principle is a federal policy intended to ensure First Nations children receive the services they need without delay, including in education, health care, and social services. In Alberta, this funding has helped support educational assistants in public schools, benefiting both Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. In a powerful open letter sent to Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides, Wendy Harman, President of CUPE 5543, warned that the cuts would be 'catastrophic' for students with complex learning needs, behavioural challenges, and those on Individualized Education Plans. 'This will devastate our Alberta schools,' wrote Harman. 'Now, we are actively choosing to let more children fall through the cracks, and those cracks are growing into chasms.' Harman cited alarming figures from Parkland School Division, where some schools will see their EA staffing slashed by more than half, dropping from 11 assistants to just 5 for student populations of over 600. 'Our EAs are not 'extras,'' she continued. 'They are qualified professionals who de-escalate crisis situations, manage diverse learning needs, and play a critical role in allowing classroom teachers to teach.' CUPE Alberta President Raj Uppal echoed the concerns and called on the provincial government to immediately step in with targeted funding to protect front-line education supports. 'Educational assistants are the backbone of inclusive classrooms,' said Uppal. 'When we cut EAs, we fail students who need support the most. The Minister must act now, because these cuts affect every student in Alberta who relies on additional help to succeed.' CUPE Alberta is urging the province to demonstrate real leadership by reversing the EA cuts, restoring jobs, and investing in a public education system that supports all children. clc/cope 491
CBC
04-06-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Yellowknife school district bracing for loss of 79 education assistants from change in Jordan's Principle
Yellowknife Education District No.1 (YK1) says it no longer has the funding to keep 79 of the district's educational assistants next school year as a result of recent changes to Jordan's Principle. Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) announced earlier this year that it would be narrowing the range of eligible requests for funding through Jordan's Principle, a program established to ensure First Nations children don't face gaps or service denials because of their identities. In a news release Tuesday, YK1 superintendent Shirley Zouboules wrote that the district has applied for Jordan's Principle funding but is still waiting for a reply. Without the funding confirmed, Zouboules said 79 educational assistants in term, or temporary, positions have been told their positions likely won't exist next school year. Zouboules said that YK1's eight schools will adapt and that students previously supported by the 79 educational assistants not returning next year will be reassigned to the remaining educational assistants. "Assignments will be prioritized to ensure safety and promote student success," Zouboules wrote. MLA for Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh Richard Edjericon said Łutsël Kʼé is losing five educational assistants as a result of the changes.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pimicikamak Cree Nation wildfire evacuees to sleep in warm beds at Ontario hotel Sunday
Dozens of wildfire evacuees from Pimicikamak Cree Nation checked into a hotel in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Sunday after days spent without sleep in a Winnipeg evacuation centre. On Saturday, First Nations leaders from across Manitoba called on the federal, provincial and Winnipeg municipal governments to direct city hotels to make space for community members being displaced by more than two dozen wildfires burning across the province. The Manitoba government declared a provincial state of emergency on Wednesday, with more than 17,000 evacuees expected to be fleeing wildfires in northern Manitoba. Pimicikimak Cree Nation was placed under an emergency evacuation order and thousands were forced to leave home as a wildfire burned out of control near the First Nation. As of Sunday afternoon, that fire was 3,300 hectares in size, according to the most recent fire bulletin from the province. Community members from Pimicikamak, also known as Cross Lake, were first sent to Norway House Cree Nation, which has been under an evacuation notice since Wednesday. Residents there were told to prepare for evacuation but have not been ordered to leave. From there, Pimicikamak evacuees were sent to an evacuation centre set up at a soccer complex in north Winnipeg. Sheena Garrick, who works with Jordan's Principle for Pimicikamak Cree Nation, said conditions at the Winnipeg Soccer Federation North facility are "horrible". "Everybody's crying, moms are crying, their kids, they want to go home. It's very heartbreaking," she said, adding the crying has been keeping tired evacuees awake. When the First Nation had the opportunity to send its citizens to a hotel in Niagara Falls, Garrick worked overnight on Saturday to organize a group of 47 people to fill a plane. The evacuees landed in Hamilton on Sunday morning and each had a comfortable place to sleep that night, Garrick said. "There was so much relief. Everybody was smiling. Everybody was so happy coming here to a warm meal, knowing they're gonna have a warm bed," she said. Denny Scott, an officer with Jordan's Principal, said the Pimicikamak evacuees finally had a chance to rest since they were first ordered to leave the First Nation on Wednesday. "But Cross Lake is coming together as one and we're together as one," Scott said. Garrick said her phone has been blowing up with questions from community members about when the next plane is going to leave from Winnipeg. On Sunday, she said two more planes carrying 119 people each were expected to arrive in Ontario. "The chaos that's going on in Winnipeg right now, it's nothing like that. You're going to come here, you're going to be happy. You're going to be comfortable," she said.
CBC
30-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Changes to Jordan's Principle funding requirements could negatively impact Yukon's rural nutrition programs
For the past five years, the Jordan's Principle nutrition program has provided all Yukon First Nations children with two healthy meals a day, but those who run the program say recent changes to the eligibility requirements for Jordan's Principle could change that. Jordan's Principle is a human rights principle established by the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to make sure that First Nations children do not face gaps, delays or denials in accessing government services because of their identity as First Nations children. The focus of the program hasn't changed, but the requirements for funding have. "In February, the federal government sent down, for Jordan's Principle [funding], new operational requirements for reporting and applying," said Melanie Bennett, executive director for the Yukon First Nation Education Directorate (YFNED). Bennett said the new requirements call for each individual child's name and status card number to be attached to each funding proposal. She called the new requirements "tedious" and said she doesn't understand what they are meant to accomplish. "Those operational requirements now put a significant barrier, in my eyes, on the access to the funds." Impact on rural nutrition programs Bennett said the changes to Jordan's Principle negatively impact First Nations nutrition programs in Yukon, especially in rural communities. She said YFNED fully operates the nutrition program offered in Whitehorse. But in rural communities, YFNED only writes the funding proposals to Jordan's Principle and does a "service co-ordination" that supports the local First Nations that implement the program themselves. Bennett said many Yukon First Nations are already working at full capacity. She said adding extra administrative work puts even more pressure on their staff. "Let's say I have a hundred children and I've now provided information on that, but one month later I have three hundred children. What's the mechanism in place that I'm going to be able to ensure that there will be an adjustment on that funding?" Bennett said that right now, the changes to Jordan's Principle don't come with any straightforward ways to get funding adjusted as programs grow, and there are privacy issues as well. "When you have to identify numbers and names, we have to make sure that that information is being kept confidential and secure. We weren't provided from the federal government any method or path we could use that would ensure that," she said. Bennett said YFNED wants to show Indigenous Services Canada and Jordan's Principle that the way things have been going for the past five years has been working well in the Yukon. The organization is urging the federal government to rethink its new requirements. Bennett said YFNED has secured funding for the nutrition program until the end of July. Yukon MP says concerns are being heard Yukon's Liberal MP Brendan Hanley said the new requirements for Jordan's Principle funding are in place across every province and territory in Canada — not just Yukon. He said they are aimed at improving the tracking of funds, and accountability of those accessing them. "I think what the department is trying to do is have more clarity and consistency around the criteria in general," Hanley said. Hanley said he's heard from YFNED and Yukon First Nations about their concerns over the changes. He said he has relayed those concerns to both the previous and current ministers of Indigenous Services Canada and trusts the message was heard loud and clear. "Minister [Mandy] Gull-Masty is herself Indigenous, and I know Jordan's Principle for her is a large priority," He said. "Of course, there's work to be done. Jordan's Principle will be honoured, and we will let the departments and ministers work out how the funding will be secured, as well as where this personal information that's being required is not a good fit for how the program is delivered through YFNED. "I obviously can't give you a definitive answer but I can tell you that we have relayed those concerns, and I will continue to be a part of that conversation," Hanley said.
