University of Saskatchewan economics professor Eric Howe has been working on social policy research since the mid-1980s.

The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s website claims that only eight per cent of aboriginal people in Canada between ages 25 and 64 have university degrees, while 23 per cent of non-aboriginal people in that same age group have university degrees.

Eric Howe, a U of S economics professor, was asked by the Gabriel Dumont Institute to do a study on the economic benefits of aboriginal education in Saskatchewan. In addition to the societal advantages of a more highly educated and affluent population — reduced crime, better health, higher tax revenue — there are substantial economic benefits for both the individuals and society at large.

After studying 24 “massive” spreadsheets covering the lifetime earnings of males and females of aboriginal, non-aboriginal and Métis descent who had received several levels of education, from dropping out to finishing university degrees, Howe combined individual monetary and non-monetary benefits with societal benefits such as higher tax revenues to calculate the economic benefit to Saskatchewan if more aboriginal people were to get university degrees.

The number he reached was $90 billion.

To put this into context, Howe said the prosperous and booming industry of potash sales has brought $70 billion into the province throughout Saskatchewan’s 106-year history. And according to Statistics Canada, Saskatchewan’s 2009 GDP was just over $56 billion.

In regards to educating more aboriginal youth, “one of the questions was, ‘Is this going to be difficult?’ ” Howe said. “And some of the things you can do are very straightforward and inexpensive.”

Howe added that while some of the measures that can be undertaken are more costly than others, aboriginal education promises significant returns on that investment. As an example he again cited potash, which is expensive to extract, but which more than makes up for that cost when it is sold.

The economic potential of the aboriginal population will increase dramatically in coming years, as well. Based on current population projections, aboriginal youths will make up fully 40 per cent of Saskatchewan’s school-aged youth by 2020.

“We’re paid largely on the basis of what we know, as opposed to in the industrial age,” Howe said. “People really are in the situation of ‘the more you learn, the more you earn.’ ”

This is especially true for Métis and First Nations people in Saskatchewan, Howe found. A Métis woman who goes on to finish a university degree will earn 149 per cent more than she would have if she had not finished high school. For First Nations women this figure is 188 per cent, and for non-aboriginal women it is 143 per cent.

For Métis and First Nations women this means earning $1,256,369 and $1,180,579 more, respectively, over their lifetimes.

Meanwhile, aboriginal males who finish a university degree will make $1,107,733 more than their counterparts who drop out of high school. And Métis males will make $1,119,361 more.

These numbers highlight two trends Howe found significant: the higher returns on education for women and for Métis people.

By finishing university, aboriginal women and Métis people see a greater increase in their earnings than do aboriginal men and non-aboriginal people with degrees.

“Métis [people] are going to be the superstars of Western Canada,” Howe said. “Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but soon.”

There are several strategies to mitigate the education gap between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people, Howe said. These range from the relatively inexpensive, like making high school equivalency tests available on or near reserves, to larger, more financially significant commitments.

Among the pricier investments, Howe mentioned the planned U of S Gordon Oakes-Redbear Student Centre, which is expected to provide aboriginal students a place to congregate and feel more welcome on the U of S campus.

The centre is expected to cost $14 million and to be a focal point on campus for aboriginal students.

“$14 million is a lot of money,” Howe said, “but in the cost benefit analysis, depending on the parameters you set, you pay that off in the first year of operation.”

The one thing Howe feels is the most important will not cost any money, though it may require a concerted effort.

“The most important thing we should do is have a change in the verb tenses we use in our discussion” about aboriginal education and conditions, Howe said. “If you talk to a lot of aboriginal people, they will explain why they are where they are using past tense: residential schools, being lied to on treaties, being economically marginalized. It’s hard to talk about how we’re going to go forward when we’re talking in the past tense.

“Likewise, a lot of non-aboriginal people will confine themselves to talking about the present tense: Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, crime rates, all sorts of social pathologies in the aboriginal community.

“Just like we can’t do anything about the past, we can’t do anything about the present either. So we need to switch to the future tense and learn to talk about what kind of Canada, what kind of Saskatchewan we’re going to bequeath our children.”

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Photo courtesy of Eric Howe