Today, C.T. (Manny) Jules, Chief Commissioner of the First Nations Tax Commission; Harold Calla, Executive Chair of the First Nations Financial Management Board; Ernie Daniels, President and CEO of the First Nations Finance Authority; Allan Claxton, Chair of the First Nations Infrastructure Institute Development Board; and the Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, announced that new amendments to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act received Royal Assent on June 20, 2023.
The co-developed amendments to the optional legislation address some of the barriers to First Nations' economic development by providing First Nations communities with increased supports and tools to strengthen their financial management systems and capacity, generate revenues from property taxation to enhance the delivery of services in their communities, and access long-term financing to build community and economic infrastructure.
The new Act supports Indigenous self-determination and economic reconciliation by expanding the mandates of two First Nations-led institutions, the First Nations Tax Commission and the First Nations Financial Management Board, to reflect their evolving purposes. It also establishes the First Nations Infrastructure Institute (FNII) as a First Nations-led organization that will support economic development by providing the skills and processes necessary to ensure that First Nations communities and Indigenous organizations can efficiently plan, procure, own, manage, and assume greater jurisdiction over infrastructure assets on their lands.
The new amendments support First Nations-led processes for building good governance and financial management practices, which promote socio-economic development and advance economic reconciliation in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The First Nations-led institutions under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act and the Government of Canada will continue to work in collaboration to address the needs and priorities of First Nations to strengthen their communities and build their economies.
