The federal government cannot blame itself for its failure to reform first Nations Emergency Management on the Lack of Outreach from Canada’s Own Communities Auditor General Said Monday.
Ottawa should, “in the true spirit of reconciliation,” review which First Nations are most in need of assistance rather than waiting for those communities to seek assistance, Karen Hogan told the House of Commons committee studying its latest report on helping the federal government perform indigenous Communities prepare for natural disasters.
She began her testimony by describing how she is the third auditor general to worry about the federal approach to the issue, which her report concludes is more reactive than proactive.
Hogan said, “In 2011, at the end of her mandate as Auditor General of Canada, Sheila Fraser summed up her impressions of the government’s actions after 10 years of audits and related recommendations on First Nations issues with the word ‘unacceptable'”. expressed with.
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Five years after that, Fraser’s successor, Michael Ferguson, reformed his language to call Ottawa’s performance “beyond unacceptable”, Hogan continued.
“We are now in the audit of decades of programs and government commitments that have repeatedly failed to effectively serve Indigenous peoples of Canada,” she said.
“It is clear to me that strong words are not going to make change.”
Their recent report says the government has yet to recognize that hundreds of First Nations across the country are among the least equipped to deal with natural disasters. The report said that the same issue was raised in 2013, but the government has not taken steps to rectify it.
The report said such analysis could help Indigenous Services Canada, the department responsible for providing services to First Nations, target its spending and ensure communities have infrastructure in place to mitigate the effects of flooding or fire. Will get permission.
“You have to come to the table with the community,” Hogan said Monday.
“Establish that trust, and follow that trust with real, concrete actions, not just commitments or dialogue, but real concrete actions to drive change.”
Hogan noted that many Indigenous communities have experienced repeated natural disasters. “I’m sure they feel that way at times,” she said.
“Actions speak much louder than words, so I would encourage Indigenous Services Canada to take a full, comprehensive inventory of the needs of First Nations communities in the region and then take some concrete action to find ways to address it.” I’ll start.” ,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made advancing reconciliation with indigenous peoples a key priority for his liberal government since coming to power in 2015.
But Hogan’s report says Indigenous Services Canada, a department that Trudeau split in two from the former Department of Indigenous Affairs in 2017, has failed to provide First Nations with the support they need to handle natural disasters. — which he said is happening more frequently due to climate change.
Hogan’s findings emphasize the devastating consequences that indigenous communities experience when they are forced to move from their traditional lands due to extraction.
The report also concludes that Ottawa is paying the price for not being proactive, with the federal government spending 3.5 times more money helping First Nations recover from such disasters than helping them prepare .
The audit found that as of April, Indigenous Services Canada had a backlog of 112 infrastructure projects intended to help communities mitigate the effects of floods and fires.
Hogan’s office says 74 projects were waiting for funding for more than five years.
Hogan told the committee that the minimum cost to build all 112 projects cited in the report—$291 million—is an underestimate, as costs for 43 projects have not yet been finalized.
Based on the First Nations Infrastructure Fund’s annual budget of $12 million, the minimum expenditure would take 24 years to complete, according to the audit.
Hogan said the department’s deputy minister explained that her officials are sitting down with communities to gain a better understanding of their specific needs — and then responding to those needs by directing them to apply for funds under existing programs. Huh.
“And that’s where I would challenge that maybe a different way forward might be more responsive to the unique needs of each community,” she said.
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