Canada’s Auditor General is “completely disheartened” to see so little improvement in substandard housing in First Nations over the past two decades, says a new report.
Karen Hogan also examined the planned expansion of the much-criticized First Nations Policing Program and found that poor management leaves communities underserved and funds unspent.
The reports she tabled in the House of Commons on Tuesday paint a grim picture of Ottawa’s record in terms of housing and maintaining order for First Nations.
This is the fourth time since 2003 that the Office of the Auditor General of Canada has held the government responsible for unsafe and unsuitable First Nations housing.
The report of Mme Hogan says communities with the worst housing conditions have received the least funding and the government has failed to ensure housing meets building code standards.
“Many people living in First Nations communities do not have access to safe and good housing, even though this is a fundamental human right,” the report states.
“Improving housing for First Nations members is essential to their health and physical, mental and economic well-being,” we can also read.
Insufficient funding
From 2018-19 to 2022-23, Indigenous Services Canada and Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) provided funding to build 11,754 new housing units and to repair 15,859 existing housing units.
That’s about a fifth of what’s needed in new construction and repairs to fill existing gaps, Mr.me Hogan.
She noted that construction in communities can be difficult, especially if they are in rural and remote areas, limiting the construction season and available workers. The pandemic has also caused some project delays.
Yet a lack of adequate housing is associated with domestic violence, substance use, suicide and economic barriers, she noted. This can contribute to a loss of culture if there are no housing options in communities, thus forcing migration.
And as time goes on, she says, the gaps will continue to widen.
The $3.86 billion allocated to housing for First Nations communities over the past five years is just a fraction of the $44 billion the Assembly of First Nations estimates is needed to improve housing by 2030, a rated Mme Hogan.
She estimated that an additional $16 billion would be needed to meet future housing needs related to population growth from 2022 to 2040.
Indigenous Services Canada has a mandate to transfer responsibilities, including housing, to First Nations.
The report of Mme Hogan reveals that the ministry is in the early stages of this process, but no overarching policy framework is in place to guide its approach. “It is important to have a strategy, given the short period remaining to correct the gap to which the government has committed, the size of the gap, the limited funds available and the difficulties that First Nations must overcome for the construction of infrastructure,” she emphasizes.
Criticism of policing
In another report, the auditor also found serious problems with the planned expansion of a much-criticized program that provides policing services to First Nations and Inuit.
The Liberals have invested $500 million in expanding the program in 2021, which will allow the federal and provincial governments to combine funds to fund policing services for First Nations.
Mr. Hogan’s report also indicates that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were not meeting their commitments to communities, were not spending money fairly and were on the verge of leaving $45 million allocated to the program unspent this year.
For example, in a sample of 26 communities served by the RCMP through the program, only 38% had officers able to devote all of their time to the communities they served, as needed.
“By failing to fulfill some of their responsibilities under the program, Public Safety Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police have taken actions that are inconsistent with the objective of strengthening the confidence of First Nations communities. Nations and Inuit and the Government of Canada’s commitment to truth and reconciliation. »
The First Nations and Inuit Policing Program has long been the subject of criticism, both in a previous performance audit and through human rights complaint and litigation. the person.