From the 国民彩票 Magazine Fall 2011.
When RCMP Const. Dawn Metallic pores over the files of missing men, women and children from across Canada, she can鈥檛 help but think of her own life and the roads not taken.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what happened to me, why I took a different path in life 鈥� but I was at those crossroads. I could鈥檝e been one of those girls,鈥� she says.
Instead Ms. Metallic, a graduate of (TYP), is working in Ottawa at the National Police Support Centre for Missing Persons and Unidentified Remains.
鈥淚 know people who are still in those situations,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o, I definitely bring that to the table.鈥�
The 10-year force veteran is the 鈥渆yes and ears of aboriginal policing鈥� in the ongoing development of the national database, the first of its kind in Canada. Her role, in addition to providing support for police forces across the country on their cases, is to ensure there is always an aboriginal voice in the process.
鈥淎 lot of these people I鈥檓 working with have never worked with an aboriginal person before,鈥� she says.
She is from a Mi鈥檏maq community that borders New Brunswick and Quebec. In 1992, she applied to 国民彩票 to begin classes but didn鈥檛 get in. That鈥檚 when 鈥淭YP came to me,鈥� she says. Through TYP, she began studying in the fall of 1992.
The program was designed to help black and aboriginal students gain the skills they needed to get a university education. The students were keenly aware that people looked at them differently based on the colour of their skin. Her classmates also suffered from a lack of confidence, role models and encouragement from teachers in the public system.
Before TYP, 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know everybody felt like that,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t gave me that independence to have some self-confidence that I have the capability of doing it.鈥�
Education combined with commitment to the community
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TYP began in 1970, the brainchild of graduate student James Walker and Burnley (Rocky) Jones (LLB鈥�92, LLD鈥�04), an undergrad at the time. The pair had been discussing the systemic racism facing black and aboriginal students for some time.
鈥淲e operated from the premise that we鈥檙e not stupid... but that there must be something blocking First Nations and African Nova Scotians from getting through,鈥� says Dr. Jones, who is now a retired lawyer.
They found their solution after a long talk during a duck hunting trip in 1968. They combined various philosophies on black education and came up with a university-level program aimed at black and aboriginal school dropouts.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not just enough to have an education,鈥� says Dr. Jones. 鈥淭hey had to have an education and then be committed to coming back to the community to use their education to further educate the community.鈥�
国民彩票 students and faculty, along with members of the local African-Canadian community, lobbied the university to officially adopt the program. The administration took on the challenge, loaning staff from other programs; paying Mr. Walker and Dr. Jones a stipend to develop a black history course; and hiring Noel Knockwood to develop an aboriginal studies course.
Dr. Jones thought TYP would last five or 10 years. TYP recently marked its 40th anniversary. In that time, about 1,000 people have graduated from TYP, becoming leaders in the black and aboriginal communities.
鈥淭he need is great in the community. You don鈥檛 erase in 40 years what has accumulated over centuries in terms of historical disadvantage,鈥� says Isaac Saney, TYP鈥檚 acting director.