WestCoastRunner Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 CBC obtained a heavily-censored analysis of the Aboriginal Affair's department's funds and allocations from the Privy Council Office, the prime minister's department, under the Access to Information Act. It disclosed that the department held back $1B in funding for social services to Aboriginal communities. These funds were to help to provide clean, running water, programs to address violence, addictions and support of education programs. Why isn't there an outcry from the non-native Canadians? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/perry-bellegarde-national-chief-calls-on-government-to-meet-obligations-to-first-nations-1.3103299 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/aboriginal-affairs-1b-spending-shortfall-hits-quebec-association-hard-1.3103266 Quote I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass. - Maya Angelou
TimG Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) It disclosed that the department held back $1B in funding for social services to Aboriginal communities.This has to be the most pathetic example of ideology driven "news" on the CBC that I have seen in a while. This is not a story until someone reports *why* the the money was not spent. Chances are the money was not spent because they could not find enough projects with adequate accounting/management oversight and the dept did not want to get blamed if the money is misused. If this is the case then the department is acting responsibly and should be commended. Edited June 7, 2015 by TimG Quote
Shady Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 More Chiefs gotta be paid 6 figures right? Quote
Shady Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 This has to be the most pathetic example of ideology driven "news" on the CBC. This is not a story until someone reports *why* the the money was not spent. Chances are the money was not spent because they could not find enough projects with adequate accounting oversight. If this is the case then the department is acting responsibly and should be commended. It would be helpful if they provided that information, and a list of the other departments that have "lapsed" spending. Quote
Smallc Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 I believe that there was a recent story that DND couldn't spend over $1B every single year. Where's her thread on that? Quote
Topaz Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 OR... the money was not spent because the pay cheques for ALL federal workers comes out of the "general revenues" and the general revenues are not as full as they once were. The cuts in GST and corp. taxes are shrinking the revenues and the MPs pensions also comes out of there. Then, again, I could be wrong. Quote
Argus Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 I believe that there was a recent story that DND couldn't spend over $1B every single year. Where's her thread on that? Virtually all departments have money left over at the end of the budgetary year. Some of them have been known to go on last minute splurges of buying in order to bring that surplus down, but I understand Harper frowns on this. Mind you, you wouldn't want to be the minister or deputy minister who goes OVER his budget by even a tiny amount. You'll be flayed alive. Quote "A liberal is someone who claims to be open to all points of view — and then is surprised and offended to find there are other points of view.” William F Buckley
Bryan Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 We see this every year. The money is there, readily available for FNs to use as long as they can document where it is spent. Many reserves will not allow even that level of financial scrutiny, so they never even apply for the money. Quote
WestCoastRunner Posted June 7, 2015 Author Report Posted June 7, 2015 This has to be the most pathetic example of ideology driven "news" on the CBC that I have seen in a while. This is not a story until someone reports *why* the the money was not spent. Chances are the money was not spent because they could not find enough projects with adequate accounting/management oversight and the dept did not want to get blamed if the money is misused. If this is the case then the department is acting responsibly and should be commended. If you and Shady had bothered to read the links, one of them discusses this: "The Quebec Native Women's Association recently lost $175,000 in federal funding, which has jeopardized its ability to continue offering services to aboriginal people within the province." Quote I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass. - Maya Angelou
TimG Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 If you and Shady had bothered to read the links, one of them discusses this:That anecdote does not address the point. The money was allocated but not used for a reason. Until we hear the reasons this is not news because chances are there are good reasons for not spending the money. Quote
Smallc Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 "The Quebec Native Women's Association recently lost $175,000 in federal funding, which has jeopardized its ability to continue offering services to aboriginal people within the province." And what exactly did they did? The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs had their money cut to the bone. It probably has nothing to do with the fact that they spend 98% of their time criticizing the government that funds them. Quote
WestCoastRunner Posted June 7, 2015 Author Report Posted June 7, 2015 That anecdote does not address the point. The money was allocated but not used for a reason. Until we hear the reasons this is not news because chances are there are good reasons for not spending the money. How can there possibly be good reasons for not spending money when FN communities are in dire need of funds to address their needs. It's appalling that this money has been held back and it's a disgrace for Canadians. If Canadians don't react to this report than it is truly sad to say that Canadians simply don't care about First Nations. Quote I love to see a young girl go out and grab the world by the lapels. Life's a bitch. You've got to go out and kick ass. - Maya Angelou
msj Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 Wow, bad reporting. This is how it works (simply stated): The First Nation is responsible for spending the money on the projects that they have applied for with AANDC. If the money is not fully spent then they can often apply to carry the funding into the next year to be spent on the project. There are many reasons the money is not spent: the project is meant to take more than one fiscal year, the project starts late in the fiscal year so must straddle into the next one, the FN is in the middle of nowhere so this adds extra time as engineers and other workers must travel etc etc. Often the FN itself is not meeting even basic management practices for management and accounting for the projects. This is certainly partially the fault of AANDC since they provide little funding for bands to hire professional people including guys like me who are hired to audit their financial statements. Quote If a believer demands that I, as a non-believer, observe his taboos in the public domain, he is not asking for my respect but for my submission. And that is incompatible with a secular democracy. Flemming Rose (Dutch journalist) My biggest takeaway from economics is that the past wasn't as good as you remember, the present isn't as bad as you think, and the future will be better than you anticipate. Morgan Housel http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2016/01/14/things-im-pretty-sure-about.aspx
Bryan Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 How can there possibly be good reasons for not spending money when FN communities are in dire need of funds to address their needs. There can be many possible reasons. If they don't qualify for it, if they don't actually formally apply for it, if they refuse to provide documentation of how it will be spent. You can't just "spend" and make problems go away. funding has to be targeted, and it has to be documented. It's appalling that this money has been held back and it's a disgrace for Canadians. If Canadians don't react to this report than it is truly sad to say that Canadians simply don't care about First Nations. There is no evidence that is the case. Quote
bush_cheney2004 Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 They can easily get that $1 billion back by defunding the government funded CBC. Just sayin'... Quote Economics trumps Virtue.
poochy Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 How can there possibly be good reasons for not spending money when FN communities are in dire need of funds to address their needs. It's appalling that this money has been held back and it's a disgrace for Canadians. If Canadians don't react to this report than it is truly sad to say that Canadians simply don't care about First Nations. They shouldn't need or care if I care about them, and if you cant be trusted to spend the money correctly, or if you have nothing legitimate to spend it on, why should it be given? it is my money, and im not appalled, but i know, im not a real Canadian. Quote
On Guard for Thee Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 They can easily get that $1 billion back by defunding the government funded CBC. Just sayin'... Ummm...you don't have to get back money that you have not spent, but thanks for playing. Quote
Big Guy Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) As I recall, last year the government proposed bill C33 which was to address aboriginal education and poverty. It would have cost about $1.9 billion. It created disagreement between chiefs and eventually rejected by the aboriginal community. That caused the AFN chief Shawn Atleo to resign and that money was never spent. Maybe that is why the $1 billion is sitting there. Perhaps if those local Chiefs got their act together and came up with a consensus and a united front they may get that money. Edited June 7, 2015 by Big Guy Quote Note - For those expecting a response from Big Guy: I generally do not read or respond to posts longer then 300 words nor to parsed comments.
jacee Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 "The planned budget for Aboriginal Affairs is to shrink by $1 billion by 2017-18 from current levels, to $7 billion, according to the department's fiscal blueprint tabled earlier in the spring." They're lapsing funding in prep for a big cut, I say. Bizarre. Quote
Smallc Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 "The planned budget for Aboriginal Affairs is to shrink by $1 billion by 2017-18 from current levels, to $7 billion, according to the department's fiscal blueprint tabled earlier in the spring." They're lapsing funding in prep for a big cut, I say. Bizarre. Every department has downsized. Quote
jacee Posted June 7, 2015 Report Posted June 7, 2015 Every department has downsized. I'm OK with downsizing the bureaucracy, but not funding for public services to people. . Quote
Smallc Posted June 8, 2015 Report Posted June 8, 2015 I'm OK with downsizing the bureaucracy, but not funding for public services to people. . And how do you know which has happened? Quote
jacee Posted June 8, 2015 Report Posted June 8, 2015 And how do you know which has happened? The money lapsed was reserve funding. Quote
Shady Posted June 8, 2015 Report Posted June 8, 2015 The money lapsed was reserve funding. Funding for what? Quote
Freddy Posted June 8, 2015 Report Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) CBC obtained a heavily-censored analysis of the Aboriginal Affair's department's funds and allocations from the Privy Council Office, the prime minister's department, under the Access to Information Act. It disclosed that the department held back $1B in funding for social services to Aboriginal communities. These funds were to help to provide clean, running water, programs to address violence, addictions and support of education programs. Why isn't there an outcry from the non-native Canadians? http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/perry-bellegarde-national-chief-calls-on-government-to-meet-obligations-to-first-nations-1.3103299 http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/aboriginal-affairs-1b-spending-shortfall-hits-quebec-association-hard-1.3103266 Is that the funds supposed to go to residential schools? Cause that was supposed to be social help too. Edited June 8, 2015 by Freddy Quote
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