Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux recently highlighted the rise in Canada’s contingent liabilities related to indigenous claims, which are estimated to be around $76 billion today, compared to $15 billion in 2015. This increase is part of a larger trend in spending on indigenous matters that has taken place in recent years. Federal spending per indigenous person is much higher than spending per non-indigenous person, a difference that has been justified by the poorer health and shorter lives of indigenous people, compared to the general population. The intention behind the increased indigenous spending is to address the longstanding issue of the large rural and urban indigenous underclass, but the significant expenditures now risk destabilizing the country.
There are concerns about whether the “nation-to-nation” reconciliation plan based on this spending is working, and a recent CBC investigation revealed that conditions in indigenous communities continue to worsen. For example, the report found that in St. Theresa Point, Manitoba, families struggle to maintain basic hygiene due to crumbling housing conditions that resemble those found in Third World countries. Most remote indigenous reserves are heavily reliant on federal support for survival, with little real employment available. Those living on these reserves tend to remain there despite economic opportunities that provoke migration in other communities.
The lack of change in these conditions has led the author to propose a phased closure of remote reserves, arguing that they have outlived their usefulness and continue to hinder indigenous progress. The ultimate goal would be to find a fair way to phase out reserves and the antiquated Indian Act, with opportunities being made available for young people to move to job centers and receive support for their success. Moreover, the author suggests that the current plan for indigenous communities is not effective and proposes an alternative approach that emphasizes education and hard work, referencing the success of indigenous leaders like Wab Kinew who have followed this formula to achieve economic prosperity.