Question Period Note: 2019-20 CIRNAC Public Accounts

• We are moving forward with First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners toward reconciliation and righting past wrongs.

• The 2019-2020 Public Accounts demonstrate that public funds are used in a responsible manner to deliver on CIRNAC’s mandate.

• We will continue to support our Indigenous partners’ vision of self-determination and create more economic opportunity and a higher quality of life for Northerners.

The Public Accounts of Canada is an annual report prepared by the Receiver General, including the Government of Canada’s consolidated financial statements along with supplementary financial information on targeted topics. Some information, such as contingent liabilities, are presented only at the consolidated level, while the majority of information from the departmental public accounts plates and form are publicly disclosed by ministry.

Exceptionally this year, the financial information of the Department will be presented under two distinct departments in the Government of Canada’s public accounts as a result of the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Act that terminated CIRNAC and created CIRNA:
• One line item for CIRNAC’s results for the period of April 1 to July 14, 2019;
• A second line item for CIRNA’s results for the period of July 15, 2019 to March 31, 2020.
Financial information that is presented by portfolio rather than by department, will be consolidated under one line as CIRNA’s portfolio.
CIRNAC’s contingent liabilities represent the vast majority of the Government of Canada’s total contingent liabilities. In 2019-20, the settlement of the Federal Indian Day Schools (McLean) childhood claim resulted in a $4.7B decrease in liabilities. Payments issued as a result of that settlement during the year are disclosed as Claims against the Crown in the Public Accounts. The balance is reported as payable as at March 31, 2020. Some payments were issued in 2020-21, while other claims are still being received and processed.

CIRNAC also reports significant environmental liabilities in the Public Accounts. The department is responsible for the management of a portfolio of contaminated sites in Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut abandoned by their former operators when they became insolvent. Responsibilities over the Contaminated Sites On-Reserve Program were transferred to Indigenous Services Canada on July 22, 2019, leaving only the Northern Contaminated Sites Program reporting remediation liabilities under CIRNAC. As of March 31, 2020, the total environmental liability for the Northern Contaminated Sites Program is $4,340 million.

The Departmental Public Accounts lapse of $1.7 billion includes $1.6 billion in lapsed funding that will be reprofiled to future years. The largest items are due to the timing and progress of claims and litigation negotiations:

• $760.1M for the Specific Claims settlements;
• $481.2M for the McLean litigation; and
• $262.2M for Sixties Scoop Settlement.

CIRNA’s total net lapse is approximately $58.7 million when excluding funds that will be reprofiled, representing 0.8% of its overall budget of $7.1 billion.

If pressed on transition (82 words)

• To move forward with the Government’s priority of reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, in July 2019, CIRNAC was established as a new department.

• CIRNAC has transferred over responsibility of some activities, including Individual Affairs and Lands and Economic Development to Indigenous Services Canada.

• This explains why some liabilities and expenses show a decrease compared to the 2018-19 public accounts.

• We will continue to work in partnership to close social-economic gaps, right historical wrongs and accelerate First Nation, Inuit and Metis visions of self-determination.
If pressed on Contingent Liabilities (60 words)

• Our Government is honoring its lawful obligations and advancing reconciliation by working to resolve claims through negotiations.

• We believe that negotiation over litigation is the best way to right historical wrongs and settle past grievances.

• The settlement agreement reached for the Federal Indian Day Schools (McLean) had a significant impact in 2019-20 by decreasing the outstanding contingent liabilities of the Department.

• We will continue to work with our Indigenous partners to right past wrongs.
If pressed on Environmental Liabilities (90 words)

• The health and safety of Northerners and the protection of the northern environment are top priorities for the Government of Canada.

• The Government is ultimately responsible for the management of abandoned resource development properties on northern federal lands.

• When CIRNAC launched the Northern Abandoned Mine Reclamation Program to remediate the largest, most complex abandoned mine project sites in Yukon and the Northwest Territories, this increased our environmental liabilities.

• We will continue to collaborate with communities, Indigenous partners, the Territories and interested stakeholders to protect Canadians and the environment.
If pressed on Lapsed Funding 2019-20 (101 words)

• Through sound financial management, we are delivering on CIRNAC’s mandate.
• In some instances, funds are moved to future years to avoid lapses and to preserve them for their intended purpose.
• Most funding lapses are due to the timing and progress of negotiations for Specific Claims and childhood litigation.
• This is a normal occurrence that helps ensure the availability of funds needed for specific claim settlement compensation in the year when settlements are reached and helps to resolve litigation outside of the courts, whenever possible.
• Our Government is committed to the just, timely and lasting resolution of claims to right past wrongs.
If pressed on Ministers’ travel (83 words)

• We are committed to the prudent and responsible use of public funds for Ministerial travel.

• We will continue to ensure that the Government meets its obligations and commitments to First Nations, Inuit and Métis, and to fulfill our constitutional responsibilities in the North.

• Canada’s North is vast and sparsely populated. Many communities do not have all season roads and are accessible only by air, making travel more expensive.

• We will continue to meet our obligations to proactively disclose travel information on Open Canada.