The federal government says it won't disclose how much money Canada has spent fighting First Nations in court over their rights to safe drinking water and housing on reserve, a move analysts call overreaching and unnecessarily secretive.
The Justice Department said it would not disclose the figures in response to a CBC Indigenous access to information request, arguing solicitor-client privilege shields the total amount of money the Carney and Trudeau Liberal governments spent battling two remote fly-in First Nations in Manitoba from 2022 until now.
"It is disappointing that Canada has invested so much into fighting us. The federal government is spending money on keeping First Nations poor and sick," said St. Theresa Point Chief Elvin Flett, lead plaintiff in one of the cases, in a statement.
The federal NDP, which has obtained similar information in recent years, also criticized the decision. The party's written questions in the House of Commons have shown Ottawa spent $3.2 million fighting St. Anne's residential school survivors and at least $14.5 million fighting First Nations child advocate Cindy Blackstock in court.
The public has a right to know just how much money the government is spending to deny their legal duties to Indigenous peoples, says the NDP's justice critic.
"It is unconscionable that the Liberals are spending public resources fighting against Indigenous rights in the courts, rather than investing in First Nations' human right to safe, clean drinking water and to closing the First Nations infrastructure gap," said Vancouver East MP Jenny Kwan in a statement.
