Mr. Chair, thank you for the opportunity to discuss our spring 2018 report on socio-economic gaps on first nations reserves.
Joining me at the table is Joe Martire, the principal responsible for the audit.
Successive governments have made numerous commitments to improve the well-being of first nations people, and Indigenous Services Canada is the lead government department responsible for meeting most of these commitments.
In this audit we assessed Indigenous Services Canada's progress and reporting on closing socio-economic gaps between on-reserve peoples and other Canadians. We also focused on whether the department made adequate use of data to improve education programs to close the education gap and improve socio-economic well-being.
We found that the department's main measure of socio-economic well-being on reserves, the community well-being index, was not comprehensive. While the index included Statistics Canada data on education, employment, income and housing, it omitted several aspects of well-being that are also important to first nations people—such as health, the environment, language and culture.
Mr. Chair, to close socio-economic gaps and improve lives on reserves, federal decision-makers and first nations need information about the socio-economic conditions of first nations people and program data that are reliable, relevant and up-to-date.
Indigenous Services Canada requires first nations to provide extensive data about their on-reserve members. The department also obtains data from Statistics Canada, other federal government departments, indigenous organizations and other sources. We found, however, that the department did not adequately use the large amount of program data provided by first nations, or other available data, to measure and report on whether the lives of people on first nations reserves were improving.
For example, the department didn't adequately measure and report on the education gap. Using the education data collected by the department, we calculated that the gap in levels of high school graduation or the equivalent between on-reserve first nations people and other Canadians widened between 2001 and 2016.
We also found that first nations had limited access to the department's education information system and related analysis. Since 2008, the department had spent about $64 million on developing and operating this system. The system was intended to capture and analyze first nations education data to inform decision-making, which first nations could access as well.
Indigenous Services Canada also made poor use of the education data it collected to improve education results. For example, the department spent $42 million over four years to prepare first nations students to enter post-secondary education programs. However, we found that only 8% of those enrolled actually completed this preparatory program. Despite these poor results, the department didn't work with first nations or educational institutions to improve the success rate.
Mr. Chair, complete and accurate departmental reporting informs Parliament, Canadians and first nations about the true extent of federal program results and whether progress is being made on closing the socio-economic gap between first nations and other Canadians.
We found that the department did not report on most of the education results it had committed to report on over the past 18 years to determine whether progress was being made to close the gap. For example, it did not report on student attendance or the delivery of first nations language instruction.
We also found that the department's public reporting of first nations results was inaccurate. For example, the department overstated first nations high school graduation rates by up to 29 percentage points because it didn't account for students who dropped out between grades 9 and 11. Moreover, the department's data showed that between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 fiscal years, the graduation rate was improving, but our calculations showed that it was declining.
We concluded that Indigenous Services Canada didn't satisfactorily measure or report on Canada's progress in closing the socio-economic gaps between on-reserve first nations people and other Canadians. We also concluded that the use of data to improve education programs was inadequate.
Our report contains three recommendations aimed at improving Canada's progress and reporting on closing socio-economic gaps between on-reserve first nations people and other Canadians.
This concludes my opening statement. We will be happy to answer any question you may have.
Thank you.