Aboriginal People Cost Taxpayers a Lot of Money?

There is a deeply ingrained belief, which has become a certainty in some circles, that Aboriginal people living in their communities are automatically entitled to a monthly cheque from the federal government, an “Indian benefit” of sorts. Nothing could be further from the truth! The reality is this: people who qualify for employment insurance receive employment insurance benefits and people in need receive monthly social insurance benefits, in complete accordance with the applicable standards for all Québec residents. Workers and retirees receive the payments they are entitled to, period. 

Another widely held view is that Aboriginal people cost Canadian and Québec taxpayers a lot of money. This view needs to be qualified. It is not Aboriginal people who cost a lot of money, but rather the deplorable conditions and economic marginalization of the majority of Aboriginal communities, as affirmed in the 1996 Report of the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. The services provided to Aboriginal people by the various levels of government cost more than the services provided to all Quebecers and Canadians. According to the Royal Commission, per capita government expenditures relating to Aboriginal people were 57 per cent higher than the spending by all governments per Canadian resident. (Canada, Royal Commission 1996)

At the same time, the Royal Commission explained why per capita spending was higher for Aboriginal people: “A 

disproportionate number of Aboriginal people live in small, remote, and northern communities. The cost of living in these remote regions is disproportionately high, ranging from 25 per cent to 100 per cent higher than the Canadian average, a situation that is reflected in salaries and allowances for public servants working in the north.” (Ibid.)

However, the higher cost of delivering government services is reflected in the difference in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people’s use of those services. “Per capita government expenditures on elementary and secondary education are approximately twice as much [for Aboriginal people] as for Canadians generally” owing to the higher number of Aboriginal students. “Five- to 19-year-olds make up 33 per cent of the Aboriginal population but only 20 per cent of the general population.” (Ibid.)

Furthermore, according to the Royal Commission, Aboriginal people make up a “disproportionate share of the clients of the judicial system and… social and income support programs.” The 1996 Report of the Royal Commission notes that Aboriginal persons were incarcerated in provincial jails “at 11 times the rate of other Canadians” that year. This trend is clearly seen in Québec and generates substantial costs in services for Aboriginal communities. Moreover, this reality was affirmed by a special report on detention conditions, administration of justice and crime prevention in Nunavik released by the Protecteur du citoyen in 2016:

Health problems and social and economic difficulties pose significant costs to governments. As the Royal Commission reported, if no effort is made to stop the economic marginalization of Aboriginal communities, the cost of services will skyrocket. (Ibid.) 

Noteworthy is the fact that the Royal Commission underscored that, in addition to the cost to Canadians and Quebecers as a whole, the cost to the people most affected is too often forgotten. Indeed, First Nations, Métis and Inuit pay a heavy price for substandard living conditions and economic marginalization, in terms of lower incomes, barriers to economic development, low labour force participation rates, under-utilization of the active labour force, and so forth.