Mounties tout 'Marshall Plan' to solve aboriginal woes

It advocates spending billions of dollars on education and skills training, eventually scrapping the Indian Act, and drawing more young aboriginals into RCMP ranks to turn the tide of despair plaguing many native communities.

"If the status quo of aboriginal economic and educational initiatives continues, street gangs and violent activity will increase and already marginalized aboriginal populations will experience a diminishing quality of life," says the paper, obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

"The fallout from aboriginal poverty is all too obvious and will only get worse."

The recent shooting death of a young mother on the Samson reserve south of Edmonton left the community reeling and renewed the already deep concerns about violence and gang activity among native youth.

Street gangs that have evolved little since taking root in some native communities two decades ago are a disturbing barometer, the paper says.

"Their spread from urban centres to reserves is not a sign of organizational growth but rather the continuing unhealthy social state of these communities."

The Aboriginal Youth Cohort: A Discussion Paper on Future Consequences was prepared last November by the force's criminal intelligence branch.

The authors acknowledge the 14-page paper is far from exhaustive and is primarily intended to provoke further thought, adding that it delves into territory "beyond the law enforcement mandate of the RCMP."

The paper does not shy away from RCMP involvement in dark chapters, including forced resettlement of aboriginal communities and residential schools, where many native children suffered abuse. But it stresses that helping native communities and young people are currently among the force's main priorities.

"The RCMP has engaged in past initiatives directed at aboriginal people and we should play yet still a greater role if we want to make a difference in their communities as well as strengthen our understaffed ranks," the paper says.

"Such an initiative would be akin to the 'Marshall Plan' that rebuilt Europe in the 1950s."

Though short on specifics, the paper suggests guiding aboriginal candidates through tailor-made education and skills courses funded by an RCMP program whose objective would be to bring qualified applicants into the force.

"At the same time, if these aboriginal candidates decided not to join the RCMP but go on to other careers, this would still benefit their communities."

Dean Fontaine, a former RCMP officer who now serves as an adviser to the Assembly of First Nations on policing issues, applauded the force's desire to become more involved with aboriginal youth.

"We're all for it," he said in an interview. "I think it's key. It will no doubt help."

Fontaine, who worked on anti-gang initiatives while a Mountie in Manitoba, says the RCMP faces an uphill battle because the understaffed force already has its hands full.

He said more resources should be put toward helping the RCMP educate children and their parents about the hazards of violent gang life.

"It's a partnership that has to develop with the communities."

An RCMP official was unavailable to discuss the proposals.

Economic independence, education and the growth of a middle class are vital for aboriginal communities, the paper says. It notes native people in their 20s will represent the largest segment of the aboriginal population by 2017, just as the working-age non-aboriginal population in Canada will be falling.

Meantime, Canada's robust economy and massive oil resources have created a large demand for skilled workers. That presents an opportunity to "positively channel" the aboriginal youth wave, taming employee shortages while building a prosperous, confident native middle class.

Doing away with the Indian Act and encouraging individual ownership of land and resources, as well as loans and mortgages based on equity, would help achieve these goals, the paper says.