When it comes to new financial initiatives for first nations, I think it's important to note that this isn't new money. It's the same money in a different form and under a different name. Furthermore, the transformative elements of the relationship are missing or underdeveloped.
The government has committed to using the community well-being index to assess whether the socio-economic gap between first nations communities and Canadians has been addressed. In our view, this index is not the right tool to use. First, it doesn't cover the 10-year grants on which the initiatives are based. This index is only provided every five or six years.
We have recommended that the government use the full range of information it already collects on indigenous communities and identify better targets for assessing outcomes. I expect that, every time a dollar is spent, the public service will consider its accountability to taxpayers.