Base funding?
Evidence of meeting #21 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was million.
A video is available from Parliament.
Evidence of meeting #21 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 42nd Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was million.
A video is available from Parliament.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Yes, the base funding for Indigenous Affairs for 2016-17 is at 2% this year.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
Oh, it's way more than that.
Maybe Paul will go over it.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
I have this on an order paper question signed by you. The increase is for base funding, so this isn't discretionary funding. In 1997-98 it's 2%, in 1999 it's 2%; 2000.... Let's skip forward to 2008-09, it's 2%; in 2015 it's 2%; and in 2016-2017 it's a 2% increase of base funding.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
Charlie—and Paul will carry this on—that's in terms of the basic escalator, and then there is program funding that goes on top of it, which has been seriously ramped up. Maybe Paul will explain how the base funding changes.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
I understand how base funding works. The issue is that the base funding has been capped at 2%. Discretionary funding never was—
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
The previous government talked about record investments, but that's money that is announced. It's specific program funding, but the base funding has been capped at 2% per year, so it's still capped at 2%, correct?
June 16th, 2016 / 4:10 p.m.
Paul Thoppil Chief Financial Officer, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
No, that's not true. We're in a transition period between what was the previous government's 2%, and in future supplementary estimates you will see a ramp-up in escalators through items such as education.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
Okay, but education is program funding.
The Prime Minister said,
As a part of this, we will immediately lift the two percent cap on funding for First Nations programs.
Budget 2016 said,
The Government has committed to lift the two percent funding cap...to establish a new fiscal relationship [of]...sufficient, predictable and sustained funding.
However, in this budget the base funding is still at 2%.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
Charlie, the 2% cap included program funding before. All the money that's being ramped up now breaks way out of the 2%.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
I hear that, but I'm looking at what this government is spending on waste water and what the previous government spent on waste water, and it looks to me that they spent more on waste water, and that is separate from the 2% cap. We're talking about the base funding, which is still at 2%.
Excuse me, but with a population increase of 4.22% this year, why is it that overall program funding in the base funding that goes into the communities is still at 2%? The cap is still in place.
You can have discretionary funding for all manner of things—
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
—such as what the previous government spent on waste water. They spent billions. The rest of the program funding was still 2%.
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
Carolyn Bennett Liberal Toronto—St. Paul's, ON
Charlie, this is the problem with estimates and what's in a budget. The 2% cap is gone, and there will be a time lag until the next supplementaries in how this ramps up.
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
This is from your Order Paper question that shows that in 2016-17, base funding—
4:10 p.m.
Liberal
4:10 p.m.
NDP
Charlie Angus NDP Timmins—James Bay, ON
It's 2% by 2% for every single year of base funding. It's still 2%.