QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Indigenous Services
Auditor General's Report
May 7, 2026
Minister, thank you for being here today. I’m honoured to ask this question on behalf of my Canadian Senators Group colleague Senator Prosper:
On May 4, 2026, the Auditor General, or AG, released her report New Fiscal Initiatives With First Nations. The report found that Indigenous Services Canada, or ISC, “. . . did not assess whether the 10-year grants were helping to address the disparities and inequities between First Nations and other Canadians . . . .”
The AG went on to recommend that ISC should provide additional support to First Nations and grant recipients the ability “. . . to increase their administrative and financial capacity to prepare . . .” the annual monitoring statements.
Minister, the First Nations Financial Management Board, or FMB, which has a proven track record of delivering on behalf of First Nations communities across the country, is tasked with assessing certain financial performance measures and producing monitoring reports.
Is your department going to provide increased long-term core funding to the FMB in line with the Auditor General’s recommendations?
Thank you. I want to welcome the Auditor General’s work. It must be incredibly challenging to be in that role, especially for an extended period of time, to call attention and point to gaps that exist in the system.
We know that, for many decades, First Nations have faced underfunding. Then, there was a period of time when there was a lot of significantly increased funding. When you are able to fund in that space at that rate, yes, there are instances in the system where we were not able to have substantive reporting. We are continuing to work with communities to help them build that capacity — not only help them build that capacity, but help them build the network to access the resources that they need to be able to provide those documents, first and foremost.
One of the interesting things that I learned during this process is that there is an increased need for auditors. So I want to encourage individuals who are listening to please go into this field of work, especially if you are Indigenous. Clearly, this is support that is needed in any financial aspect.
We want to work with our colleagues, and we want to work with those organizations that are there to build capacity and support communities. We’re always looking to enhance those relationships. We want communities to drive those whom they are asking us to help support and truly build that capacity, not only in the space of reporting, but also the capacity that is needed in undertaking projects — project management and infrastructure build. There is a lot of work to do in this space. I’m encouraged, and I’m happy to do it with them.
Thank you, minister. I had to speed up, so I didn’t read part of Senator Prosper’s question. I’ll now read what I wasn’t able to read the first time:
The First Nations Financial Management Board is tasked with assessing certain financial performance measures and producing monitoring reports. They are so effective that the government has also tasked them with taking over third-party management. Yet, this increased responsibility hasn’t come with the requisite core funding.
Minister, if you have anything more to add, I would appreciate it.
Thank you. When communities are having that difficulty or challenge, our objective is to support them in that space. It is our work to support them with the tools they need.
I’m always going to be open to communities when they identify whom they want to work with, be it with the First Nations Financial Management Board or others, because we have to give communities the right to choose in order to ensure that they’re able to respond to the questions asked of them.
I am a big believer that accountability and transparency are part of the work, not only in reporting in dollars, but in ensuring that your members understand the financial decisions you have taken on their behalf to improve their quality of life in the community.
