Off-Reserve Aboriginals Are Faced With Challenges

The Congress of Aboriginal Peoples has expressed its concerns to Canada’s leaders.
The Congress is calling on the government to address a number of issues that off-reserve Aboriginals are facing.
The comments came ahead of the premiers’ summit at Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Brad Maggrah of Wabigoon is the President of the Ontario affiliate, and says affordable housing is one of their main concerns.
He says many Aboriginals come to the area from the Far North, and they are faced with the same conditions.
Maggrah says the government needs to stop cutting back on funding, and provide more to housing so people can afford a place to live and go to work.
There are over 1.4 million Aboriginal people in Canada, and 70% of them live off-reserve.
The CAP is one of five national Aboriginal Representative Organizations in Canada, but Maggrah says the government isn’t recognizing them as one of them.
National Chief Betty Ann Lavallée said that she’s hopeful the Federal Government will reverse its decision to cut 30% of the CAP’s funding. She says both the government and the CAP need to have an honest and open dialogue about Aboriginal specific policies and programs.
Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne is chairing the Council of the Federation meeting, which runs through Friday.