Hajdu won’t say if non-Indigenous companies should pay back Indigenous contracts

Indigenous Services Minister Patty Hajdu repeatedly dodged questions on Monday over non-Indigenous companies accessing federal contracts meant for First Nations, Inuit and Métis.

Canada’s Indigenous Services minister refused to say Monday if non-Indigenous companies that won contracts by claiming to be Indigenous should pay back the value of contracts that were meant for First Nations, Inuit or Métis businesses.

Under questioning by Conservative MPs during a parliamentary committee meeting, Patty Hajdu repeatedly stressed the value of the Indigenous Business Directory – a database of companies connecting Indigenous businesses to the lucrative world of federal contracts.

A months-long Global News investigation, in partnership with researchers at First Nations University of Canada, raised questions about whether some of those companies are truly owned and controlled by Indigenous people.

The investigation revealed significant loopholes in the Procurement Strategy for Indigenous Business (PSIB), a federal program designed to give five per cent of all government contracts to First Nations, Métis and Inuit companies, as a form of economic reconciliation reflective of Indigenous people making up five percent of the overall population.

Federal documents reviewed by Global News warned as early as 1999 that “fronts” and “shell companies” could exploit and ultimately undermine the program.

Conservative MP Garnett Genuis called the abuse a case of “cultural appropriation leading to financial misappropriation.”

“You have people that are pretending to be Indigenous in order to get money that they’re not supposed to be accessing,” Genuis said.

“Do you see the problem here and do you agree that your government needs to be accountable for this failure?”