Auditor-general slams DIAND on land claims record

Sheila Fraser, the auditor general of Canada, slammed the Department of Indian and Northern Affairs in her latest report this week, saying DIAND doesn’t even know if it’s meeting the goals of the Nunavut land claims agreement.

Officials with Nunavut Tungavik Inc. reacted to Fraser’s findings immediately, saying she confirms what they’ve been saying about DIAND for at least two years.

“It should come as no surprise to Inuit, or to Canadian taxpayers, that DIAND received a failing grade in Ms. Fraser’s assessment. The department has not done what any well-run government or business would have done in managing a complex process like implementing a major land claims agreement,” Richard Paton, NTI’s chief operating officer, said at a press conference in Iqaluit this week.

Fraser’s report found that in carrying out its land claim responsibilities, DIAND has set no measurable performance goals for itself. That, she said, makes it virtually impossible for Parliament, or the public, to make the department accountable for its work.

DIAND’s annual reports on land claim implementation don’t contain enough information and “are not helpful in holding the federal government accountable.”

She found DIAND doesn’t even know the actual cost of implementing the Nunavut and Gwich’in land claim agreements, whether those costs are incurred by DIAND, or other government departments

“We were unable to find any such financial reporting for either of the agreements, nor were we able to find any process to capture financial information for management purposes,” Fraser said.

Another area of serious dysfunction is in dispute resolution. Fraser found that the Nunavut arbitration panel – which is supposed to resolve land claim implementation disputes between NTI and the federal government – has not reviewed any disputes.

And it’s in spite of at least two serious, longstanding disputes between NTI and DIAND over Inuit employment and training in government (Article 23), and Inuit access to federal government contracts (Article 24).

For nearly two years, NTI has been attempting to negotiate a new deal on Article 23, as part of the second, 10-year implementation plan for the Nunavut land claims agreement.

But Ottawa has dug in its heels over an NTI demand for millions of new dollars a year for adult job training and post-secondary education.

John Lamb, NTI’s chief executive officer, said the organization is looking for a complete change of attitude at DIAND. That change would move the department from a narrow, legalistic approach to its land claims responsibilities toward a recognition that the spirit of the agreement must also be observed.

“We are looking for a change at DIAND,” Lamb said, saying the throne speech, the appointment of a new DIAND minister, and now the auditor general’s report, give NTI more hope than ever before.

Fraser’s analysis of DIAND’s work in implementing the Nunavut and Gwich’in land claim agreements is contained in Chapter 8 of her latest report, which has other chapters devoted to the well-publicized scandal involving the Department of Public Works and $100 million worth of federal advertising money that was misused.

Though her report was finished last November, it couldn’t be made public until after the House of Commons resumed this month.