Canada’s Auditor General, Shelia Fraser, is calling on federal and provincial governments to change the way they deal with First Nations communities as the quality of life on most reserves is dramatically worse than in non-Native communities.
After spending a decade auditing the performance of governmental departments in regards to First Nations communities, Fraser has declared that the present system requires a revamp as it is simply not working.
Citing 29 separate audits that directly or indirectly dealt with First Nations communities, Fraser said very little has changed in the last decades in terms of social and living conditions.
According to APTN News, Fraser said, “The conditions on many reserves remain poor and progress is slow. Some communities are making significant progress, but they are the exception rather than the rule. Services on reserves have not kept pace with services in municipal governments… The federal government has not been identifying and funding comparable services on reserves in any systemic fashion.”
Fraser’s findings critiquing the government’s treatment of First Nations communities is expected out in May. Already she has said the report will look at how reporting requirements for Aboriginal communities is much more excessive than communities of the same size and highlight government failures in education, water quality, housing and child and family services.
