Federal government failing Indigenous communities on housing, policing: AG report
The federal government is failing to meet its housing and policing commitments to First Nations across the country, leaving many In‐ digenous people in Canada under-housed and inade‐ quately policed, according to a new report from the Auditor General released on Tuesday.
Karen Hogan's spring re‐ ports said that despite multi‐ ple warnings, the underfund‐ ing of housing means that the number of First Nations homes that need repair or replacement is essentially the same in 2022 as it was in 2015.
"Adequate housing is a basic human need," Hogan said in a statement. "After four audit reports, I can hon‐ estly say that I am completely discouraged that so little has changed and that so many First Nations individuals and families continue to live in substandard homes."
Hogan delivered three re‐ ports Tuesday focusing on First Nations housing, First Nations policing and the fed‐ eral government's manage‐ ment of the $4.6-billion Na‐ tional Trade Corridors Fund.
Under federal law, Indige‐ nous Services Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation are the primary government organi‐ zations responsible for hous‐ ing on First Nations commu‐ nities.
The report says both or‐ ganizations have made little progress in supporting First Nations to improve housing conditions in their communi‐ ties.
Over the last five fiscal years, the federal govern‐ ment spent $3.86 billion building new homes and re‐ pairing existing homes in First Nations communities, far short of the $44 billion an Assembly of First Nations re‐ port said was needed in 2021.
Hogan's report said Tues‐ day that the number of hous‐ ing units located on First Na‐ tions communities across the country stands at just under 120,000.
In 2015-2016, 20.8 per cent of those homes were in need of major repairs and 5.6 per cent needed to be re‐ placed. By 2021-2022, the number of homes in need of repairs decreased slightly to 19.7 per cent, while the num‐ ber of new homes needed in‐ creased to 6.5 per cent.
The Auditor General's of‐ fice first flagged the issue of mould in First Nations hous‐ ing in 2003, leading to a gov‐ ernment strategy to tackle the issue that was launched in 2008.
Hogan's report said that government organizations were no longer using that strategy and that govern‐ ment officials could not ex‐ plain why the strategy had been abandoned.
Hogan's report said feder‐ al departments should work with First Nations to close the housing gap and tackle mould by agreeing on needs, required funding and mea‐ surable targets.
The report also said CMHC needs to ensure it is using the most recent data available to ensure that com‐ munities receive funding that reflects demographic changes and that the com‐ munities most in need are prioritized.
To ensure adequate hous‐ ing in First Nations, govern‐ ment organizations should also ensure that housing meets or exceeds national building codes.
First Nations and polic‐ ing
Hogan also looked at the First Nations and Inuit Polic‐ ing Program and found that it is failing to deliver on fed‐ eral commitments made to Indigenous communities.
The program is a costsharing initiative between the federal and provincial and territorial governments de‐ signed to improve the safety of Indigenous communities.
Hogan's audit found that Public Safety Canada, the federal department over‐ seeing the program, "did not work in partnership with In‐ digenous communities to provide" policing services tai‐ lored to their needs.
Hogan's report also found that $13 million of program funds for the 2022-23 fiscal year went unspent and that Public Safety Canada was "at risk" of not disbursing over $45 million in funds for the 2023-2024 fiscal year.
The audit also found that because of staffing short‐ ages, the RCMP is leaving First Nations and Inuit com‐ munities underserved.
"By not fulfilling some of their responsibilities under the program, Public Safety Canada's and the RCMP's ac‐ tions are not aligned with building trust with First Na‐ tions and Inuit communities and with the federal govern‐ ment's commitment to truth and reconciliation," Hogan said in a statement.
To ensure adequate polic‐ ing, Hogan's report recom‐ mends Public Safety Canada work closer with First Nations and Inuit communities to de‐ velop an entirely new ap‐ proach to policing.
That approach, the report said, needs to update gov‐ ernment policies, revise how funds are allocated, improve tracking of the program and be supported by mandatory cultural training.
Funding trade infra‐ structure
The audit also found that al‐ though the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) was well-designed and imple‐ mented, its effectiveness has been hard to track because of poor monitoring and re‐ porting by the federal gov‐ ernment.
Launched in 2017 with a planned ending date of March 31, 2028, the $4.6-bil‐ lion NTCF helps fund infra‐ structure projects in Canada that streamline internal and external trade, such as air‐ ports, ports, roads and rail‐ ways.
Hogan's report said that Transport Canada, which manages the fund, approved $3.8 billion for 181 projects, but that half of the funded projects "had an incomplete performance measurement strategy to assess their re‐ sults."
"Infrastructure programs like the National Trade Corri‐ dors Fund take years to pro‐ duce results," said Hogan.
"This time factor makes it all the more important to have a robust system to track performance so that Trans‐ port Canada can show the extent to which the fund has contributed to improving the fluidity of Canada's trans‐ portation infrastructure."
Hogan's report said Trans‐ port Canada should do a bet‐ ter job of reviewing the ratio‐ nale used when evaluating projects, and monitor perfor‐ mance to improve account‐ ability.