It goes back to our original argument on this side of the House. We agree with the diagnosis, but the prescription is wrong. It will not have any meaningful effect in terms of living up to the word, other than naming and shaming—which we know may or may not work, based on the Auditor General's reports. How many reports have we had on the failings of Indigenous Services Canada? There have been many, and then follow-up reports on those. We did many studies that show little to no improvement in education, such as graduation rates among indigenous students. The list goes on and on.
The failures must be known by now. The failures are out there. I'm sure the departments managing these programs know, themselves, where the failures are. You have to talk to some of the leaders. I'm sure they do. I know you can't put this in legislation, but consequences to failure will not make any change, other than a little naming and shaming. A week or two later, it's out of the headlines and people have moved on. There is an opportunity to do more and to have some real teeth to this.
I understand why the treaty partners want this. I absolutely do. I know they've been hit with decades' worth of failure. I understand why they want this fixed. At least this is a step forward in this, but I do not think this has the right mechanisms in place to make some meaningful change.
The structure of government is the main issue. Otherwise, as governments change and political parties come in and out, the politicians overseeing departments would have some say and tell them, “Hey, start lining up with the word of the treaty, and start living up to your signature.” They probably have. Maybe they have. The structure of the government and the mechanisms.... It keeps chugging along and nothing changes. In this equation, other than people going in and out of various departments, the structure is still the same.
The departments still function. Many have gotten bigger and more bloated. I don't think the structure has any desire to change, or we would have seen some changes. One Auditor General's report talks about many ways to fix the on-reserve housing issue. It talks about education. The leaders themselves have talked about it. The treaty partners have said, “You know, we have lots of ideas, but you won't listen.”
The prescription has to do more with the structure itself. Government is too big, and it's gotten set in its ways over decades and decades of functioning so that there will not be meaningful change.
I don't think this is a question for you. It's more of a rant from me, but thank you for listening.