Federal government failing Indigenous communities on housing, policing: AG report

The federal government is failing to meet its housing and policing commitments to Indigenous people across the country, says a new report from Auditor General Karen Hogan released Tuesday.

Hogan delivered three reports Tuesday focusing on First Nations housing and policing and the federal government's management of the $4.6-billion National Trade Corridors Fund.

"Our audits for federal programs to support Canada's Indigenous reveals a distressing and persistent pattern of failure," Hogan said Tuesday. "The lack of progress clearly demonstrates that the government's passive siloed approach is ineffective and in fact contradicts the spirit of true reconciliation."

Hogan said that despite multiple warnings, federal underfunding 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. "After four audit reports, I can honestly 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."

Under federal law, Indigenous Services Canada and the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) are the primary government organizations responsible for housing in First Nations communities.

The report says both organizations have made little progress in supporting First Nations' efforts to improve housing conditions in their communities.

Over the last five fiscal years, the federal government spent $3.86 billion building new homes and repairing existing homes in First Nations communities, far short of the $44 billion an Assembly of First Nations report said was needed in 2021.

Tackling mould

Hogan's report said Tuesday that the number of housing units located on First Nations 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 replaced. By 2021-2022, the number of homes in need of repairs decreased slightly to 19.7 per cent, while the number of new homes needed increased to 6.5 per cent.

The auditor general's office first flagged the issue of mould in First Nations housing in 2003, leading to a government 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 government officials could not explain why the strategy had been abandoned.

A 2018 housing needs assessment completed by the Nunatsiavut government found 41 per cent of households surveyed had mould. (Ariana Kelland/CBC)

Hogan's report said federal departments should work with First Nations to close the housing gap and tackle mould by agreeing on needs, required funding and measurable targets.

The report also said CMHC needs to use the most recent data available to ensure that communities receive funding that reflects demographic changes and that the communities most in need are prioritized.

"We found that the department and the corporation have not prioritized communities with the greatest needs," Hogan said. "First Nations communities with the poorest housing conditions received less funding than communities of the same size with better housing conditions."

To ensure adequate housing in First Nations, government organizations should also ensure that housing meets or exceeds national building codes, the AG said.

First Nations and policing

Hogan also looked at the First Nations and Inuit Policing Program and found that it is failing to deliver on federal commitments made to Indigenous communities.

The program is a cost-sharing initiative between the federal and provincial and territorial governments meant to improve the safety of Indigenous communities.

Hogan's audit found that Public Safety Canada, the federal department overseeing the program, "did not work in partnership with Indigenous communities to provide" policing services tailored to their needs.

Hogan's report also found that $13 million in 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 shortages, the RCMP is leaving First Nations and Inuit communities underserved.

"By not fulfilling some of their responsibilities under the program, Public Safety Canada's and the RCMP's actions are not aligned with building trust with First Nations and Inuit communities and with the federal government's commitment to truth and reconciliation," Hogan said in a statement.

To ensure adequate policing, Hogan's report recommends Public Safety Canada work closer with First Nations and Inuit communities to develop an entirely new approach to policing.

That approach, the report said, needs to update government policies, revise how funds are allocated, improve tracking of the program and be supported by mandatory cultural training.

Funding trade infrastructure

The audit also found that although the National Trade Corridors Fund (NTCF) was well-designed and implemented, its effectiveness has been hard to track because of poor monitoring and reporting by the federal government.

Launched in 2017 with a planned end date of March 31, 2028, the $4.6-billion NTCF helps fund infrastructure projects in Canada that streamline internal and external trade, such as airports, ports, roads and railways.

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 results."

"Infrastructure programs like the National Trade Corridors Fund take years to produce results," said Hogan.

"This time factor makes it all the more important to have a robust system to track performance so that Transport Canada can show the extent to which the fund has contributed to improving the fluidity of Canada's transportation infrastructure."

Hogan's report said Transport Canada should do a better job of reviewing the rationale used when evaluating projects, and monitor performance to improve accountability.