Aboriginal youth: “social time bomb” for 2011?

Senior members of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives have issued their political predictions for 2011 on rabble.ca, and young Aboriginal people factor prominently for the director of CCPA’s Manitoba office. Here is part of what she had to say:

… the prospects for many Aboriginal youth today are bleak. Far too many drop out of school and join inner city gangs because it represents hope and belonging in a world of limited options. We have all the research we need to show the current government approach to the problem — criminalizing Aboriginals, or offering them short-term training to feed the low-wage market — isn’t working. … It’s time to ensure they have the tools they need to succeed, or we face a social time bomb that was — and is — wholly preventable.

In terms of where this “bomb” might explode, I have to assume she means the Prairies, and I hope the chiefs, councillors, mayors and premiers across the West heed these words constructively.