Manitoba doubles financial commitment to Indigenous Education Awards program

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This article was published 21/11/2024 (383 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Premier Wab Kinew returned to the annual Indigenous Education Awards and job fair, after promising at the same event last year to increase provincial funding to the program run by the Business Council of Manitoba.

As part of his “unsolicited advice” to more than 100 Indigenous Education Award recipients in the room Wednesday night at the RBC Convention Centre, Kinew said: “You have to do what you say you’re going to do. It’s a small example, but that’s what I’m doing tonight.”

Since 2001, the Business Council of Manitoba has distributed about $8 million in $3,000 awards to roughly 2,000 post-secondary Indigenous students (some of whom receive the award more than once).

In the past, the province has contributed 50 cents to every dollar of BCM contributions (raised from the organization’s 100 members, made up of the largest employers in Manitoba).

This year, the province has committed to matching funding dollar-to-dollar raising its contribution by $500,000. That means the program will be able to double the number of awards it hands out in 2025 (to 400).

“We are not going to be able to double it every year, but we are not going away,” said BCM CEO Bram Strain.

Kinew told the story of the journey of his mother-in-law, Debbie, an Indigenous woman who was a single mother in Winnipeg’s Weston neighbourhood in the 1980s who, through the province’s Pathway to Education program was able to go to university and became a teacher. She later obtained her masters degree and became a principal.

Debbie’s daughter, now Kinew’s wife, Lisa Monkman, became a doctor.

“That family will never live in poverty again because of education,” he said. “The government didn’t do it for them. Just like you, they had the smarts and the will and the work ethic. They just needed a little help to find the way.

“It’s a small role government can play, but it’s such an important investment for us to make.”

Glennis Bird, a member of the Peguis First Nation, is attending medical school thanks to Indigenous Education Awards.

She said her decision to go back to school as a single mother was to honour a commitment she made to her eldest daughter, who has died.

“The BCM award was a game-changer for me,” said Bird. “It provided with the time and peace of mind to concentrate on passing exams, completing my rotations and working towards my doctor of medicine degree. It has truly opened the door to a brighter future for me and my children.”

In addition to the IEA, for the past two years, the BCM has also operated a Work-Integrated Learning program, matching IEA recipients with jobs at BCM member workplaces.

To date, about 100 such job placements have occurred.

This year, BCM has partnered with Economic Development Winnipeg to allow the WIL program to use the Work in Manitoba job portal to better match up the skills and job aspirations of students with employers’ needs.

“During last year’s event, I had the chance to meet Nolan Brennan and was thrilled when he said yes to joining our development team for a summer co-op. I know the team and us were thankful to have his talents and energy and we look forward to perhaps welcoming him back in the future,” said Jennifer Johnston, vice-president, human resources, at Payworks.

Kinew was joined at the event by Renée Cable, minister of advanced education and training, and Ian Bushie, minister of natural resources and Indigenous economic development, as an indication of the government’s support of the program.

“This is a really important partnership. It is a critical part of our provincial economic success,” the premier said.

martin.cash@freepress.mb.ca