Good morning, Mr. Chair.
Thank you for the opportunity to appear before the committee today to discuss our reports that were just tabled.
I want to start by acknowledging that we are gathered on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinabe people.
With me today is Jerry DeMarco, the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development, who will speak to three of the audit reports that my office presented to Parliament this morning. We are also accompanied by the principals who were responsible for the audits. In addition to our performance audit reports and as is our usual practice, we have also provided Parliament with copies of our special examinations of the National Capital Commission and of the International Development Research Centre, which were made public since our last tabling.
I will begin with our audit of initiatives that have been described by the Government of Canada as the new fiscal relationship with first nations. The government committed to co-developing initiatives with first nations partners, including increasing the predictability and flexibility of federal funding, to support reconciliation and the gradual transfer of services to first nations.
Overall, we found that Indigenous Services Canada did not effectively implement, monitor or assess the initiatives it committed to. While the department introduced 10-year grants, and while payments were aligned with funding agreements, it did not consistently monitor whether grant recipients remained eligible for funding. More than $6.5 billion in grants has been distributed, but the department did not know whether grants were achieving intended outcomes, including reducing socio-economic gaps between first nations and other Canadians.
Important initiatives to truly transform the fiscal relationship between first nations and the federal government remain largely undeveloped. For example, Indigenous Services Canada did not implement a framework to establish mutual accountability between first nations and their citizens, and between first nations and the department.
Also, the department did not meet its key commitment to support the development of first nations financial management capacity to avoid financial default.
The new fiscal relationship initiatives are an important part of Indigenous Services Canada’s mandate to gradually transfer services to first nations. The department needs to improve how it implements and delivers these initiatives to meet its commitments to help improve socio-economic outcomes and advance reconciliation.
I will now turn to our audit of accessibility in seven federal organizations.
Overall, we found that all had fostered accessible workplaces for employees with disabilities, with key areas for improvement remaining.
All organizations we examined had made progress in the representation of persons with disabilities in their workforces. We found that promotion rates across employee groups were comparable and that all seven organizations had accessibility practices in place, such as executive champions and networks for persons with disabilities.
While I am encouraged by the progress to date in representation and the commitment to accessibility, there is still room for improvement in how accommodations are delivered and employees with disabilities are engaged. For example, we found that employee networks were not consistently consulted on the implementation of decisions affecting them.
In addition, while all organizations had measures in place to address workplace barriers, processes to deliver accommodations need to be improved. The time required to respond to employees' accommodation requests ranged from an average of 24 to 310 days. Inconsistent data collection limited the ability of organizations to identify recurring issues and systemic barriers.
Federal organizations have a duty to ensure that all employees can participate fully and equally in the workplace. Building on the progress made to date requires ongoing focus on accessibility and efficient processes.
I will now turn it over to the commissioner of the environment and sustainable development to summarize the next three reports.