Federal spending on indigenous litigation climbed 24% over two years following former prime minister Justin Trudeau's decision to replace the old Department of Indian Affairs with two separate departments, according to a federal audit.The Audit Of Litigation Management found annual litigation costs at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Indigenous Services increased from $74.7 million in 2022 to $92.9 million in 2024.Blacklock's Reporter said auditors did not explain the increase but raised concerns about oversight, accountability and confusion over which officials are responsible for managing litigation."Roles and responsibilities are not always clearly understood and activities related to strategic analysis and litigation prevention sometimes lacked defined ownership," said the report.The audit traced some of the management structure to Trudeau's 2017 decision to dismantle the former department and create Crown-Indigenous Relations and Indigenous Services."In 2019 litigation management within the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Department of Indigenous Services was decentralized," said the report.Auditors warned clearer lines of responsibility would be needed as the number and complexity of lawsuits increase."Effective governance, clear accountabilities and strong collaboration both internally and externally will be critical to ensuring litigation management remains responsive, efficient and aligned with reconciliation objectives," they wrote.The report also identified shortcomings in tracking the money spent on lawsuits."Financial reporting practices and cost accountabilities could be clarified to further support effective management of expenditures," said the audit.Auditors did not disclose how many billable hours were represented by the $92.9 million spent in 2024, the hourly rates paid by taxpayers or the number of outside lawyers retained by the government."As litigation grows in complexity and demands on departmental budgets increase, strengthening these elements will be essential," said the report.Auditors counted 673 active lawsuits involving indigenous matters."'Active cases' refers to matters currently in progress through the court system with ongoing litigation or procedural activity," said the report.Another 535 cases were classified as inactive, typically because of lengthy delays, a lack of recent court filings or other signs that proceedings had stalled.Trudeau announced the breakup of the Department of Indian Affairs in 2017 as part of what he described as a broader overhaul of the federal government's relationship with indigenous Canadians."What we are doing today is a big step toward ending the Indian Act," Trudeau said at the time..Federal spending on indigenous programs has since quadrupled, rising from $10.3 billion annually in 2015 to $46.5 billion, according to Public Accounts.The creation of the two replacement departments also resulted in 1,683 additional federal employees being hired over five years.Former Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux told the Commons indigenous committee in 2023 that his office could not find a corresponding improvement in departmental performance despite the increased spending."Increased spending did not result in a commensurate improvement in the ability of these organizations to achieve the goals they set for themselves," said Giroux.
