Bill to Amend the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, to Make Consequential Amendments to Other Acts, and to Make a Clarification Relating to Another Act
Third Reading
June 15, 2023
Honourable senators, having been unable to beat the clock yesterday, I rise to deliver part 2 of my speech as sponsor of Bill C-45, amendments to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act. In the genre of sequels, I’m aiming for the Top Gun: Maverick of Senate third-reading speeches.
I left off speaking about a success story from Saskatchewan regarding the fiscal frameworks for First Nations that this bill enhances.
In terms of the benefits of participation in the First Nations Fiscal Management Act for communities, I’d like to share the story of Mistawasis Nêhiyawak Nation.
I quote Chief Daryl Watson, who said:
Development and implementation of policies and procedures for day-to-day financial activities will lead to long-term sustainability for Mistawasis Nêhiyawak. It is paramount to develop structure with short-term and long-term strategic plans/work plans for good administrative governance for our Membership, for future generations, and for our business partners.
Mistawasis Nêhiyawak is a Cree community located 70 kilometres west of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. Mistawasis Nêhiyawak First Nation is notable because it was the first in Saskatchewan to receive a Financial Management System Certificate, an FMS Certificate for short, through the First Nations Financial Management Board. This has helped the community make its mark in the business world, creating several prosperous companies that are engaged in a variety of businesses ranging from a gas station and cafe to property management, engineering and an industrial contractor.
The community was first added to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act schedule in 2013. Four years later, with the help of the First Nations Tax Commission, it passed property taxation and assessment laws. In 2019, it set tax rates and passed an expenditure law for the first time, collecting more than $80,000 to help support First Nation infrastructure and local services from non-community member farmers who lease agricultural land. Mistawasis takes a modified approach to taxing agricultural land. They determine the average tax per acre in the adjacent municipality, and they charge taxpayers based on the acres leased. Mistawasis is the first First Nation to successfully implement this approach.
The capacity-building elements provided under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act have helped the community unlock its economic success. To that point, the community’s tax administrator received training at the Tulo Centre of Indigenous Economics, an accredited institution which offers training in local revenue systems and financial management programs. This was instrumental in making Mistawasis’s tax system fully operational.
To sum that up, the FMS Certification process has helped Mistawasis Nêhiyawak develop and implement sound finance and administrative governance practices, build fiscal capacity and strengthen self-determination.
I feel privileged to share that success story with you, a journey of 10 years that demonstrates what is possible when First Nation governments have practical tools for modern fiscal management. And it demonstrates what is possible when we move toward new practices and new ways of doing things, working in full partnership with Indigenous leaders and experts.
To conclude, I would again thank the critic, Senator Martin, the Indigenous Peoples Committee and this chamber for moving swiftly on Bill C-45. I would also offer final congratulations to the champions of economic reconciliation who have created and driven this legislation. My experience as sponsor of Bill C-45 adds to my optimism that Canada and Indigenous peoples are advancing shared prosperity. We have a great distance yet to travel, but we have found the path, with the sun on our face and the wind at our back.
Thank you colleagues for your support. I look forward to Royal Assent of this important legislation.
Thank you, hiy kitatamîhin.
Honourable senators, I’m pleased to speak once again to Bill C-45, An Act to amend the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, to make consequential amendments to other Acts, and to make a clarification relating to another Act.
I’d like to acknowledge the work of Senator Klyne as well as the members of the committee and all those in the other house who worked to bring this bill to our chamber. I will keep my intervention short, as I would want to do nothing to delay this timely and important piece of legislation.
Bill C-45 makes amendments to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act that will better enhance and expand the good work of the three Fiscal Management Act institutions and now the fourth, the First Nations infrastructure institute.
The bill passed through the House of Commons quickly, with only a few minor amendments to add clarity to the text, and it passed through the Standing Senate Committee on Indigenous Peoples without difficulty.
Among the changes this brings to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, three items stand out for special mention.
First, Bill C-45 directly addresses the shamefully large infrastructure gap of at least $349.2 billion between First Nations and non-Indigenous communities. It has been woefully clear that the “Ottawa knows best” top-down approach has been unable to address this issue, and now, through the First Nations infrastructure institute, Indigenous communities will have direct access to an Indigenous-led organization whose primary focus is to address this gap.
Second, this legislation continues to expand and modernize the First Nations Financial Management Board’s services to meet the needs of First Nations and other Indigenous groups and entities. This would be an optional pathway for tribal councils, modern treaty nations and self-governing groups to build their administrative, financial and governance capacity through the risk-managed support of the Financial Management Board, as nearly 350 First Nations have chosen to do.
Lastly, Bill C-45 also expands the First Nations Tax Commission, FNTC, to support First Nations who choose to increase their fiscal powers beyond real property taxation. It would also open FNTC to be able to offer services to self‑governing First Nations, municipalities and other orders of government.
Bill C-45 recognizes the inherent right of Indigenous peoples to maintain and develop their political, economic and social systems or institutions. Through its optionality, Bill C-45 recognizes Indigenous peoples’ right to engage freely in all their traditional and other economic activities.
Through Bill C-45, economic reconciliation is recognized as an important pillar in overall reconciliation. It is a step to get rid of the gatekeepers to Indigenous growth and to reverse the archaic and paternalistic Indian Act and its consequences that effectively removed First Nations from the national economy.
Honourable senators, reconciliation must be centred on the ability of Indigenous peoples to make decisions for their own lives and communities. Bill C-45 provides an avenue for that, and it is my hope that we can pass this important piece of legislation quickly and unanimously.
Thank you.
Are honourable senators ready for the question?
Is it your pleasure, honourable senators, to adopt the motion?
Hon. Senators: Agreed.
(Motion agreed to and bill read third time and passed.)
