The Modern Treaty Era
In this Chapter we’ll consider how much money Canada’s federal government allocates to Indigenous individuals and communities. Some of this could be considered obligatory, in keeping with treaty responsibilities or in compensation for past wrongs. Some could be considered part of the government’s aspiration to enhance all citizens’ well-being. In this day and age, we expect social spending from the government.
Some History:
At the time of Confederation, Canada had no social assistance as we know it today: no publicly-funded medical care or schools, and no public pensions. A very different mentality prevailed. The federal government at that time had no intentions regarding the Inuit, no inkling of duty towards Métis communities, and no willingness to spend a nickel more on First Nations than was promised in the various Treaties or that was necessitated by emergencies such as famine.
It might be said that the federal government’s sense of responsibility to provide a social safety net for anyone, Indigenous or non-Indigenous, awoke during the Great Depression and became quite energized as soldiers returned home after World War II.
While the provinces and territories took on the responsibility to deliver health care, education, and social assistance to Canadians not living on reserves, the federal government expanded its service delivery to Status Indians on and, to some extent, off reserves. It now funds health care, education, income support, child welfare, and infrastructure on all reserves. There is, however, no formal statement of what this support entails, and the funding that individual reserves and other Indigenous communities receive has evolved in an ad-hoc manner.
Until the Supreme Court decision Daniels vs. Canada (2016) codified Canada’s obligation towards Métis and non-Status persons, spending on these two groups has been small.
Mark Milke (2013) has investigated the amount of government spending on Indigenous persons since 1947; most of his data relates to people with Indian Status. While many government ministries and agencies have spent money on Indigenous communities, only Health Canada, Employment and Skills Development Canada (now Employment and Social Development Canada), and the department directly responsible for Indigenous programs (now called Indigenous Services Canada) explicitly identify their spending on Indigenous people:
Milke’s estimates are conservative in that some spending on Indigenous people was not recorded and could not be counted, and because administrative expenses are not included.
In the graphic below, AANDC stands for Aboriginal and Northern Development Canada. This is what Indigenous Services Canada used to be called. It is the federal ministry in charge of spending on Indigenous programs.
Taking his data as given, spending on Status persons has increased dramatically, from $922 per person, adjusted for inflation, in 1949/50, to $9,056 pr person in 2011/12. Meanwhile, spending on all C