Improving the Effectiveness of Transfer Payment Programs on Canadian Reserves: Lessons from International Aid

Andrew Binkley is a graduate of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and will be a law clerk at the Federal Court of Appeal. The author thanks Professor Michael Trebilcock for supervising this paper and Professors Darlene Johnston, Douglas Sanderson and Mariana Prado and Ms. Shannon Lyon for their helpful comments.This paper outlines the development challenges facing Canadian First Nations living on reserve. A summary of the legal and historical status of Indians precedes the presentation of the Human Development Index (HDI) for reserve Indians. In light of ambiguous empirical evidence about the success of programs and projects to close the HDI gap between reserve Indians and other Canadians, literature on international aid is canvassed to suggest improvements. These improvements focus on increasing the effectiveness of the funds earmarked for First Nations as opposed to asking what level of expenditure is best. The improvements entail increasing the selectivity of economic development funding, promoting good governance on reserve, and making Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) more responsive to reserve conditions