Committee grills minister on failure to support First Nations during climate emergencies

Members of Parliament accused Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu of ducking accountability on Monday after the auditor general criticized her department's ongoing failure to help First Nations deal with climate emergencies.

Hajdu began the week flanked by her top officials at the House of Commons public accounts committee in Ottawa as it studies Auditor General Karen Hogan's 2022 audit of emergency management on reserves.

According to the audit, chronic problems identified nearly a decade ago remain unaddressed, putting First Nations at heightened risk of death and destruction from disasters like wildfires and floods.

Hogan late last year joined her predecessors in condemning a "beyond unacceptable," multi-decade failure by Indigenous Services, previously known as Indigenous Affairs, to effectively serve Indigenous people.

Hajdu responded by telling the committee she accepts the audit's findings and that her department is working on an action plan.

"We know that we don't have the luxury of time," Hajdu said.

"The gap is very large and there is still much to be done."

The MPs' questions began with Conservative Kelly McCauley who called the audit "damning" and one of the worst he's ever seen in seven years in the House of Commons.

"No one has been held accountable and no one's getting the work done," McCauley said.

"Who is responsible for this debacle?"

Hajdu wouldn't answer directly.

"It's all of us who are accountable," she replied.

She then started attacking the Conservatives for voting against past Liberal budgets that upped spending on Indigenous programs and blamed the Tories for years of inaction under former prime minister Stephen Harper.

A 2013 Harper-era audit of the same program found chronic underfunding, jurisdictional confusion and systemic ill-preparedness increasingly put First Nations at risk from emergencies.