Feds failing to measure gaps between First Nations, others

OTTAWA — Indigenous Services Canada is failing to measure and accurately report the social and economic gaps between First Nations people on reserves and other Canadians, auditor general Michael Ferguson said Tuesday.

“There are so many discussions about the need to close the socio-economic gaps between Indigenous people and other Canadians in this country and we don’t see those gaps closing,” Ferguson told a news conference after his spring report was tabled in Parliament.

“We don’t even see that they know how to measure those gaps.”

Indigenous Services Canada is not using large quantities of socio-economic data provided by First Nations and other sources, the report found. It has also failed to engage meaningfully with First Nations people in order to report whether the quality of life on reserves is improving.

The Indigenous Services index used to measure social and economic well-being is not complete, Ferguson said, because while it includes education, employment, housing and income, it lacks certain other factors important to First Nations people, such as health, environment, language and culture.

Ferguson’s audit found that the education gap has not improved in the past 15 years, that the department did not measure the education gap on reserves and that the information reported by the department was inaccurate.

“The department’s method of calculating and reporting the onreserve high school graduation rate of First Nations students overstated the graduation rate, because it did not account for students who dropped out between Grades 9 and 11,” it said.