Brian Giesbrecht: Canada’s Indigenous Model Is Unsustainable

Commentary Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux recently pointed out the significant rise in Canada’s contingent liabilities related to indigenous claims. Today’s estimated $76 billion is many times the $15 billion it was when the Liberals took power in 2015. This is only one part of the massive increase in spending on indigenous matters that has taken place since then. Federal spending per indigenous person has always been much higher than spending per non-indigenous person. The higher level of spending has been justified because most indigenous people do much worse on virtually every health and social indicator than the general population. Their health is poorer, and their lives are shorter....