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The common theme in those discussions — which occurred on a not-for-attribution background basis — was that one of the biggest challenges is changing the culture at what is widely seen as one of the most sclerotic bureaucracies in the federal government: the department of indigenous and northern affairs.

That the 4,500 bureaucrats at the department have difficulty responding to change and insist on sticking to set ways is not a new revelation. Many Conservative political staffers who had to work with that department over the past decade have often said the same thing.

Indigenous leaders have made similar complaints year in, year out for decades. Most recently, when Trudeau and Bennett attended a session in December at a special meeting of the Assembly of First Nations, several chiefs took to the microphone to praise the new attitude from the Liberal government while condemning the attitude of the non-partisan bureaucrats they deal with.

Even the auditor general, Michael Ferguson, in his most recent report to Parliament, complained specifically about a long history of inaction and indifference at the department of indigenous and northern affairs.

“This is now more than a decade’s worth of audits showing that programs have failed to effectively serve Canada’s indigenous peoples,” Ferguson wrote in November. “Until a problem-solving mindset is brought to these issues to develop solutions built around people instead of defaulting to litigation, arguments about money, and process roadblocks, this country will continue to squander the potential and lives of much of its indigenous population.”