ANALYIS: The unprincipled state of Jordan’s Priniciple

Indigenous Services Canada is reviewing Jordan’s Principle processes and policies at regional and national levels with long-term sustainability in mind.

That’s the line from Ottawa, as the backlogged bureaucratic boondoggle that is the Jordan’s Principle is a clear example of a federal failure to correct historic deficiencies to ensure equal access to education for First Nations kids in a colonial system.

Was there abuse of the system? Yes.

Were the guidelines clear from the start? No.

Is it easy to understand any government funding program? You can answer that.

One must question whether it is actually fraud for someone living in abject poverty, in a remote community, who are desperate to find a better life for their kids and community to push the limits of the federal piggy bank.

The principle is designed to make up for the feds’ failures over decades to ensure that First Nations children receive all public services and support which are not currently met, or up to the standard, enjoyed by their non-Indigenous peers.

Monfwi MLA Jane Weyallon-Armstrong is a longtime advocate for Indigenous children and families.

In June, she stated: “Jordan’s Principle was working in the North. It helped children catch up and, at times, thrive — especially in smaller communities where supports are scarce.”

As of June 2025, there was a backlog of nearly 140,000 requests nationally, with new applications continually pouring in to Indigenous Services Canada.

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In the Northwest Territories, the Simpson government faced pressure in the last session to both lobby Ottawa and provide backfill funding in the interim.

Graduation rates for Indigenous students in the NWT are still awful, but have risen by six per cent over the past three years.

As Tu Nedhé-Wiilideh MLA Richard Edjericon noted, the longstanding neglect has already forced families to leave their traditional communities in search of better education opportunities — and then schools in Yellowknife also were at risk.

Edjericon said that Lutselk’e Dene First Nations school would lose five full-time education assistants, all of whom were funded through the Jordan’s Principle program.

Yellowknife School Division had been receiving more money from Jordan’s Principle than it did from taxpayers — more than $6 million.

CBC North reported 60% of support assistants were paid through the program for everything from classroom assistants to speech-language pathologists.

The previous Crown minister in charge of the file, Patty Hajdu, attempted to rein in the scope of the program following a Jan. 29 Human Rights Tribunal decision.

That ruling expressed concern over the government’s implementation of the program, which had started covering not only health-and education-related services, but also new homes, personal vehicles, hockey gear, and even modelling headshots.

Since February 2025, families have to provide more paperwork and proof before they can get support.

Prime Minister Mark Carney visited Inuvik in July and said he’s open to reviewing the changes.

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Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations Rebecca Alty is well-briefed on the issue, as she is the NWT’s MP.

But Jordan’s Principle is not her file. Mandy Gull-Masty is the first Indigenous person to run the Indigenous Services department.

She’s a member of the Cree Nation from Waswanipi in northern Quebec, and a former grand chief of Eeyou Istchee.

Will this ‘first-ever’ have a better handle on First Nations’ programs? It will not be easy to restore another breakdown in trust between First Nations’ families and the government.

(The current failures of Jordan’s Principle also hurt Inuit youth, as seen in issues like funding shortfalls, administrative delays, and program gaps, which mirror the problems faced by First Nations children.)

Minister of Education, Culture and Employment Caitlin Cleveland and Minister of Health and Social Services Lesa Semmler issued a joint statement on recent changes to Jordan’s Principle:

“Across the Northwest Territories, children and families are being impacted by recent administrative changes to Jordan’s Principle. As territorial Ministers— and as Northerners — we are deeply concerned about the unintended consequences of these changes, and we are urging swift federal action to protect the progress that’s been made.”

In late August, the extremely cash-strapped GNWT ponied up $14 million to support education assistants for the 2025–26 school year.

That should (might?) be reimbursed by the feds, but even so, it’s no way to run a country.

Attempting to subsidize First Nations students across the country to the level of non-Indigenous youth is essential if Canada is going to utilize Canadian talents and skills in the ever-changing world.

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Considering that Canada’s total international assistance was $12.3 billion in 2023-2024, with the cost to fund Jordan’s Principle that same period being $1.6 billion.

Very few people would call for a complete cessation of foreign aid. And that’s also simply not something the Liberal government would be prepared to do.

However, for proper administration and full funding of Jordan’s Principle across Canada in the years to come, would a temporary re-allotment of some foreign aid be a reasonable policy to consider?

In any event, the two women handling the key Indigenous areas — Rebecca Alty and Mandy Gull-Masty — have the backgrounds and bona fides to fix Jordan’s Principle and a host of other issues that matter to the country’s first  peoples.

And let’s not forget that PM Carney is also technically from the North, being born in Fort Smith but raised in Edmonton.