Auditor general called out Ottawa months before Eskasoni crisis – TheChronicleHerald.ca
Months before Eskasoni declared its second suicide crisis in a decade, an independent audit showed Indigenous Services Canada was failing First Nations communities.
“We concluded that Indigenous Services Canada did not satisfactorily measure or report on Canada’s progress in closing the socio-economic gaps between on-reserve First Nations people and other Canadians,” concluded the Auditor General of Canada report released last spring. “We also concluded that the department’s use of data to improve education programs was inadequate.”
The report found a wide range of critical gaps and a disconnect between the department and First Nations leadership in examining its core mandate, including to improve social well-being and economic prosperity as well as to develop healthier, more sustainable communities.
