Senior officials at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada promise to rein-in growing administrative costs to ecoENGERY, a renewable infrastructure grant program for Aboriginal and northern communities.
A 2015 audit of the federal grant program found that administration costs for the program increased by three per cent from 2011 to 2014. By 2014, administration costs had risen from 18 to 21 per cent of the total program costs.
ecoENERGY
The ecoENERGY for Aboriginal and Northern Communities Program was created by the federal government in 2007.
The program offers northern and off-grid communities funding for renewable energy projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in northern communities and become less reliant on diesel in off-grid communities.
A full list of selected projects from 2007-2016 can be found on the government’s website.
2015 Audit
In the report, the audit committee acknowledges that the program’s high administrative costs are necessary because of the technical nature of the proposals.
The audit breaks down the costs of the program, calculating the average amount spent on proposal assessments.
The annual costs of the program are a portion of the department’s larger community infrastructure budget.
In 2013-2014, the ecoENERGY program accounted for 11 per cent of total money spent on community infrastructure, according to the Public Accounts of Canada 2013, Volume II report by the Receiver General of Canada.
The audit committee calls the increase in administrative costs to the program an issue of ‘economies of scale,” but suggests operating costs could be reduced by working with other branches in the department to share resources.
The suggestion is one of six recommendations put forward by the committee.
Action Plan
Last month, Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada responded to the audit with an action plan.
Assistant Deputy Minister of the Northern Affairs Organization, Stephen Van Dine says he will coordinate with other department branches and use existing resources to maximize the funds used for infrastructure investments in Northern Aboriginal communities.
Van Dine says, the new process is “in-progress for future programming” and will be in place “by December 2016.”
Funding for the ecoENERGY for Aboriginal and Northern Communities Program ended in March 2016.
According to the department’s action plan, a decision about future funding for the program is “pending.”
Budget 2016
A spokesperson for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, Valérie Haché says the 2016 federal budget includes $129.5M, over five years, to improve public infrastructure in northern communities.
She says the money will pick up where programs, like ecoENERGY, left off.
“It will continue the investments made through those programs to carry on to support Indigenous and northern communities adapt to climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” says Haché.
The federal budget also proposed and additional $10.7M over two years for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.
Haché says the funding is dedicated for, “renewable energy projects in off-grid Indigenous and northern communities that rely on diesel and other fossil fuels to generate heat and power.”
She says the department is working with communities to find new projects that will reduce Indigenous and Northern communities’ dependence on diesel fuel.