Federal Government Failing to Support Indigenous Communities: Reactive Measures Costing Taxpayers
Auditor General Karen Hogan presented a report last week in the House of Commons which found that Indigenous Services Canada did not provide First Nations communities with the support they need to prevent, prepare for, and respond to emergencies such as floods and wildfires.
Since 2009, more than 1,300 emergencies have occurred in First Nations communities, which have led to over 130,000 people to be evacuated and ultimately displaced.
Indigenous Services Canada is responsible for ensuring that First Nations communities receive emergency management services, including emergency planning, flooding prevention, and wildfire suppression.
A vast majority of the findings in Hogan’s report were identified nearly a decade ago by Auditor General Michael Ferguson in 2013. Indigenous Services Canada agreed with every recommendation set forth by the audit.
Poor Allocation of Capital
Over the last four fiscal years, Indigenous Services Canada spent about $828 million on emergency management support for First Nations communities.
Hogan found that Indigenous Services Canada was more reactive than preventative, despite First Nations communities identifying many infrastructure projects to lessen the impact of emergencies.
The report states, "for every $1 invested in preparedness and mitigation, $6 can be saved in emergency response and recovery costs," meaning the lack of funding in preparation will result in greater capital costs in the future.
"The department had a backlog of 112 of these infrastructure projects that it had determined were eligible but that it had not funded. The department is also spending 3.5 times more money on responding to and recovering from emergencies than on supporting the communities to prevent or prepare for them” Horgan explained.
The backlog of projects represents 39% of all structural mitigation projects.
Source: Based on financial data provided by Indigenous Services Canada.
Over half of the projects that were eligible but yet to receive funding are based in British Columbia, which is surprising considering B.C. has the second largest Indigenous population by province.
The report highlighted that many of these issues were identified in the 2013 audit of emergency management on reserves but have yet to be acted upon.
Why Sufficient Funding Matters
There are two primary reasons why sufficient funding is needed for First Nations communities:
It is likely that Indigenous Services Canada is incurring larger capital costs to respond to emergencies than if they had adequately prepared for them.
First Nations are the first line of defence until outside help can be provided. Therefore, if these communities are not properly prepared, they will not be well-positioned to manage emergencies.
A Continuing Theme of Disaster
Because the funding provided by Indigenous Services Canada is proposal-based, some of the First Nations that are at the highest risk of disaster do not receive any funding at all.
Between fiscal years 2018-19 and 2021-22, 13 First Nations communities were evacuated three or more times and four of those 13 communities did not apply for funding for non-structural mitigation and preparedness. It is unclear why these four communities did not apply for funding.
Non-Existent and Out-of-Date Emergency Management Plans
The Auditor General also found that Indigenous Services Canada did not have an updated emergency management plan, as required under the Emergency Management Act, every two years. The latest plan was created in June 2017.
As well, only four of the seven First Nations regions had regional emergency management plans. The ones that did have plans were all outdated. These issues have been highlighted several times prior in federal audits and internal audits at Indigenous Services Canada dating back to 2013.
Source: Reports of the Auditor General of Canada to the Parliament of Canada.
Presently, not all First Nations communities have the necessary funding to hire emergency management coordinators. In the last two fiscal years, Indigenous Services Canada provided $26.9 million to hire 190 full or part-time emergency management coordinators, equating to roughly $70,000 per person, per year. The department did not identify how many more coordinators were required for these communities.
Department Accepts Recommendations
Speaking with reporters outside the House of Commons, Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu said, "We fully agree with the auditor general's report. I think that what it says to the Government of Canada is that this work has to happen more quickly."
On the other hand, the NDP’s Niki Ashton, a member of Parliament for Churchill-Keewatinook Aski in Manitoba, believes that “the Liberals continue to abandon First Nations to fend for themselves.”
Ashton continued, "First Nations know what they need to do to manage emergencies in their communities and on their territories and what needs to be done to save lives. But the Liberals aren't giving them the support they need."
