Aboriginal students benefit from Martin’s surplus

Paul Martin doesn’t give up easily.

“You go into public life because you believe in certain things,” he says. For Martin, one of those things is adequate funding for the education of aboriginal Canadians.

Martin tried to achieve this with the Kelowna Accord, a historic agreement to improve education, employment and living conditions for Canada’s aboriginal people. The ink was barely dry when the former prime minister’s Liberal government lost the election to the Conservatives in 2006.
We cannot afford to waste a single talent

The Conservatives didn’t include the Kelowna Accord in their budget. Martin retired from politics two years later. It would have been easy for him to throw up his hands and say he tried his best.

While Martin may have been out of political office, he wasn’t out of political power for two reasons: deep pockets and connections.

So he decided to try to achieve some of the goals of the Kelowna Accord in a different way. He started the Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative, a series of programs and investment funds to help aboriginal students succeed in their classes and careers.

Students at work in the Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Program at Children of the Earth High School in Winnipeg.

Martin’s project has three elements. At each of five high schools participating in the Aboriginal Youth Entrepreneurship Program across Canada, 15 to 20 students get course credit and start up funding for developing and launching a business. The Accounting Mentorship Pilot Project identifies five to nine promising students from six school boards and pairs them with with accounting firms who provide job shadowing and work experience. The Promising Practices in Aboriginal Education Website organizes research and resources in a central online hub for teachers to use.


The programs focus on business because Martin sees the problem in economic terms.

“We cannot afford to waste a single talent,” he says.

High dropout rates and sub-standard education among aboriginals mean Canada is missing out on talented people who could be helping the country stay on top in the global economy, Martin says.

Progress reports

Schools on reserves are the responsibility of the federal government and they receive proportionally less funding than public schools. Schools off reserves can be poorly equipped to identify and serve the needs of aboriginal students.

“It’s morally wrong, and economically dumb,” Martin says.

Teachers and administrators say Martin likes to stay directly involved, asking for frequent progress reports and feedback. He tries to meet the students taking part in the programs.

Leigh Brown, a Grade 12 teacher involved in the entrepreneurship program at Children of the Earth High School in Winnipeg, was there when Martin visited the school last year. He took part in an activity where student groups competed to market a gift basket. His group didn’t win.

“He was great. He just acted like one of the students, dove in and worked with them,” she  says.
Their confidence level had gone way up
“He contributed the same as the students were doing, offering suggestions. Ultimately what they came up with was from the whole group. He certainly didn’t try to run the whole thing.”

Gary Beveridge, a partner in the accounting firm KPMG who co-ordinated the Accounting Mentorship Project with the Grand Erie School Board in Southwestern Ontario, says Martin’s visit highlighted how far the students had come.

At the beginning of the program, the students had been shy about speaking in front of a group, he says. They had been through a year of job shadowing and work experience with mentor accountants. At the event, Martin asked each of them questions.

Early successes

“I’m sitting there going, I wonder what they’re going to do? And they had a discussion with Mr. Martin. Their confidence level had gone way up,” Beveridge says.

Martin poses with students from the accounting mentorship program.
The programs have already had some remarkable successes. All nine Grade 12 students who participated in the entrepreneurship program at Children of the Earth High School have applied for post-secondary education, Brown says.

This is consistent with studies that show practical courses help students stay in school who otherwise are at risk of dropping out, Martin says. The benefits of sticking with the program are immediate and tangible: “A better quality of life, more jingle in their pockets."

Martin's program can focus resources on individual students. In the entrepreneurship program, students are counselled by business owners about how to identify demand and market a product. In the accounting program, students are paired with a professional accountant who provides one-on-one mentorship.

But more is necessary to change the big picture.

“This should be a government program,” he  says. “The great disadvantage is no single person can replace government.”

The Martin Aboriginal Education Initiative won't provide exact numbers on funding, but a significant amount comes from Martin. The programs will be able to sustain themselves at the pilot level for a few years. If they expand nationally, fundraising or government support will be required.

At 72, Martin says he doesn’t plan to slow down and take a conventional retirement any time soon. In fact, he laughed at the suggestion.

“No, I think that I’m going to continue as I am,” he says.

He did admit that he scheduled at least one break during the Olympics. “I think I’ll stop to watch Canada beat Russia.”

Education disparities