Mr. Chair and committee members, thank you for inviting me and my assistant deputy minister, Chris Moran, to appear before you today here on the traditional territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
I appreciate the opportunity to speak about the Auditor General of Canada's performance audit report on the first nations and Inuit policing program.
Since 1991, the program has provided cost-matched funding to support access to dedicated, culturally responsive policing services in first nations and Inuit communities.
This program supports 36 self-administered police services, which provide community policing in over 155 first nation and Inuit communities.
Through the community tripartite stream, the program also provides funding to support an enhanced level of policing in communities that are served by the RCMP. This cross-matching approach supports investments in an area of provincial/territorial jurisdiction, and Public Safety Canada is committed to improving the program in collaboration with provinces and territories of jurisdiction and with first nations and Inuit communities.
In response to the Auditor General's performance audit report, Public Safety has developed a preliminary action plan to address the report's recommendations. We are calling it “preliminary” because of the importance of engaging with first nations and Inuit partners and the provinces and territories to do this work.
That said, the department has already started taking action to address the Auditor General's recommendations. The department has recently aligned the delivery of programs, indigenous policing and community safety policy and engagement considerations into a single branch to create more efficient coherent program delivery and to improve the integration of policy on indigenous issues within the Public Safety mandate.
While there is much to do, having a clear line of accountability will help to ensure that it gets done.
This branch is working with provinces and territories and first nations and Inuit communities to identify improvements to program governance with a view to delivering its cost-matched funding faster.
In parallel, indigenous-led regional and national engagement sessions have been held over the winter on proposed legislative options to advance the minister's mandate to co-develop federal legislation to recognize first nations police services as essential services. The government also reiterated its commitment to this initiative in budget 2024. The engagement sessions build on ongoing collaboration that Public Safety Canada has fostered with first nations and subject matter experts, such as the First Nations Chiefs of Police Association and the First Nations Police Governance Council, as well as provincial and territorial representatives.
Public Safety is also revisiting the program management relationship with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to more readily consider and integrate official availability in program management decisions, and the RCMP are continuing to work with communities to improve cultural awareness practices as they reaffirm their commitment to keeping indigenous communities safe, including through the first nations and Inuit policing program.
Through all these initiatives, collaboration is key.
Public Safety Canada will continue to work closely with first nations and Inuit partners, law enforcement agencies and provinces and territories.
The provinces and territories are responsible for making decisions on the level of policing needs in their jurisdictions. Consistent with this, they drive decisions on investment priorities for this program by providing 48% of the funding, which the federal government then meets with the remaining 52% within its funding allocation.
This approach presents challenges. Public Safety is aware of the opportunity and is undertaking the necessary work to improve program governance and in turn, delivery and outcome.
The audit report will inform this shared work, help strengthen our ability to overcome challenges and ensure the continued success of the FNIPP
I know that commitment to reconciliation is top of mind in every step we take on this shared path with our indigenous partners.
This work directly affects the safety and security of the indigenous communities who rely on these services.
By implementing the auditor's report's recommended improvements and fostering collaboration, we aim to create a safer environment, build stronger relationships with indigenous communities and ensure that their unique needs are met.
Thank you, Mr. Chair.