A letter written earlier this month by Guy Lonechild, chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), says the school was told it faced closure if it failed to take drastic steps to deal with financial problems.

The April 16 letter, which was leaked to the media, was sent to the university’s president and chair of the board of governors, according to this CBC story. It was written after Lonechild met with, among others, Minister of Indian Affairs Chuck Strahl.

Provincial and federal funding to the school, in Regina, was cut in January after allegations of financial mismanagement. The provincial government has since agreed to restore about $5 million with the provision that the University of Regina administer the money. About $7 million in federal funds remains up in the air.

Yesterday, board chair Joely BigEagle said more staff cuts are likely, but that she expects the school, which has about 820 students, to be open in the fall.

Gwen Florio

Tags: buffalo post, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, First Nations University of Canada, Guy Lonechild, Gwen Florio, Minister of Indian Affairs Chuck Strahl, Native American news, University of Regina

The $5.2 million necessary to keep First Nations University of Canada up and running has been restored, just a week before the school would have had to close.

The deal was announced as Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chief Guy Lonechild went before the federal standing committee on aboriginal affairs and northern development to talk about the school’s dilemma.

The province of Saskatchewan will provide the funding, and the University of Regina, which shares its campus with FNUC, will oversee the finances of the school that has been rocked by allegations of financial mismanagement, The Toronto Globe and Mail’s Elizabeth Church reports here.

The agreement will keep the school going for four more years. Federal money also will be sought.

“This agreement also allows me to begin lobbying aggressively for the federal government to follow the provincial lead and invest in this partnership,” Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris said in a statement announcing the deal.

In recent weeks, students have rallied to save their school, which is Canada’s only aboriginal-run university.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris, buffalo post, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, First Nations, First Nations University of Canada, Guy Lonechild, Gwen Florio, Native American news, Saskatchewan, University of Regina

This Saskatoon Homepage report says that a meeting last night between Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations Chief Guy Lonechild and Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris netted an anouncement that a new deal between the FSIN and province is in the works.

Norris would say only that they discussed the possibility of routing funding through the University of Regina, which would manage the aboriginal school. Federal and provincial funding cutoffs are threatening to shut down the university.

The meeting followed a day of protests by university students, more than 100 of whom gathered, along with tribal on the steps of the Saskatchewan legislature. (See this CBC report with accompanying videos.)

As this piece in the Star Phoenix says, Canada’s federal and provincial governments badly misread the amount of support for the school. The headline – Governments Clearly Colluded to Torpedo to Torpedo FUNC – says it all.

Gwen Florio

Tags: Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris, buffalo post, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, First Nations, First Nations University of Canada, Guy Lonechild, Native American news, Saskatchewan Legislature