(Deputy Chair) in the chair.

[English]

Honourable senators, I would like to begin by acknowledging that the land on which we gather is the traditional ancestral and unceded territory of the Anishinaabe Algonquin Nation and is now home to many other First Nations, Métis and Inuit peoples from across Turtle Island.

I am Senator David Arnot from Saskatchewan, and I am the deputy chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Indigenous Peoples. I will now ask the committee members in attendance here to introduce themselves by stating their names and the province or territory from which they come.

Yonah Martin, British Columbia.

Nancy Hartling, New Brunswick, the unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people.

Karen Sorensen, Alberta, Banff National Park, Treaty 7 territory.

Mary Coyle, Nova Scotia, Mi’kma’ki.

Margo Greenwood, British Columbia, Treaty 6 territory.

Dennis Patterson, Nunavut.

Thank you.

Welcome to our panel of witnesses, in particular we have with us the Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations, Marc Miller; Christopher Duschenes, Director General, Indigenous Institutions and Governance Modernization; Philippe Bertrand, Manager, Fiscal Policy and Investment Readiness; Andrea Dixon, Senior Policy Analyst, Fiscal Policy and Investment Readiness; Andrew Ouchterlony, Legal Counsel, Department of Justice Canada; Joanne Wilkinson, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Regional Operations, Indigenous Services Canada; Lynne Newman, Director General, Fiscal Arrangements, Indigenous Services Canada; and Jessica Sultan, Director General, Economic Policy Development, Indigenous Services Canada. I would like to thank you all for joining us today. Minister Miller will provide us with remarks for about five minutes or so, followed by a question-and-answer session with the senators. We are advised the minister must leave no later than 9:45 this morning, but the cadre of officials will remain to answer questions. I now invite Minister Miller to give his opening remarks.

Kwe Kwe, tansi, hello. Thank you, Senator Arnot, for recognizing the land that we are on today, and thank you to the committee for the invitation to appear before you to talk about this important legislation to amend the First Nations Fiscal Management Act.

We have been engaging with Indigenous partners, some of whom are present today, for some time on this particular legislation, and the main message we hear is to hurry up and get it done.

This act came into force in 2006, and to date 348 First Nations have chosen to participate, providing them with a framework to assert their jurisdiction in financial management, taxation and access to capital markets. The key word here is choice. First Nations participating in the act have better access to capital, more fiscal powers and better financial management systems. As a result, they’re growing their economies and improving socio-economic outcomes for their community members.

Over time, First Nation signatories and the First Nations-led institutions established by the act — namely, the First Nations Financial Management Board, also known as FMB, the First Nations Tax Commission, or FNTC, and the First Nations Finance Authority, also known as the FNFA — have identified numerous ways to improve the act.

[Translation]

The proposed amendments would expand and modernize the mandates of the First Nations Tax Commission and the First Nations Financial Management Board to better reflect their current and future activities. They would establish a First Nations Infrastructure Institute that would provide First Nations and other interested Indigenous groups with tools and support to implement and manage their infrastructure. They would also provide First Nations who are participating in the act with the power to make laws to regulate services provided by or on behalf of the First Nations.

These amendments are being proposed during an important moment in Canada’s process of decolonization. As you know, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act came into force in June 2021, following this committee’s thorough study of Bill C-15. Our government as a whole is working with First Nations, Inuit and Métis to implement the United Nations Declaration, and consultations with Indigenous partners have led to the development of a draft action plan.

Some action plan measures identified for my department to work on with partners, such as the FNFMA, include amendments to the Fiscal Management Act and implementing the right to self-determination.

The proposed amendments we’re talking about today are key to this work. They would align with the United Nations Declaration, and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Calls to Action, since they support a fiscal relationship that promotes economic development and Indigenous governance through institutional development.

[English]

Before I finish, I’d like to provide some examples of how this act promotes social change with some stories about First Nations in British Columbia.

Neskonlith First Nation financed a daycare centre that offers Secwepemc cultural activities as its core programming and is open to children of all backgrounds. The circular design is like a traditional winter house, a kekuli, but it acknowledges how children are in the middle to nurture and to be raised in a good way.

’Namgis First Nation achieved Financial Management Systems certification in April 2021, which strengthened their governance capacity. By developing their financial administration law, ’Namgis has more flexibility in regard to meeting the financial and social needs of their community.

Communities are also using financing to build renewable power projects. For example, Sts’ailes First Nation and Taku River Tlingit First Nation have constructed run-of-river electricity generation stations. This will help these communities transition to a more sustainable economy.

These are just a few examples, and they exist across Canada of the ongoing work supported by FNFA. It is clear that updating this act will accelerate social change because it puts a number of these instruments directly into the hands of First Nations, as you’ll hear from the folks behind me. The proposed amendments we are discussing are an important part of supporting the self-determination in order to build an economy that works for Indigenous communities. In order for Canada to work for everyone, we need an economy that allows prosperity for all, and often that word is used in exclusion of First Nations, Inuit and Metis. In this case, it isn’t.

Meegwetch. Thank you.

Thank you, Minister Miller.

I was remiss in not introducing Karine Tremblay, Senior Policy Analyst, Fiscal Policy and Investment Readiness, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada. It is nice to see you.

I will now invite questions from the senators.

Thank you, minister, for your presentation. I think we all know that this is the end of a very long journey with the FNFA, and this committee has been part of the progress over the years with good support from your government. This bill is very welcome in my view.

I know the good work that has been accomplished. The FNFA has issued over a billion dollars in debentures helping facilitate. You gave some examples, but it helped facilitate the purchase of Clearwater by the Mi’kmaq and empower Indigenous communities to manage their own finances, as you have said.

However, I also know that stable, long-term, dedicated core funding has sometimes been an issue, and there have been concerns about timelines between negotiating for, receiving and needing to spend that money. My question is this: Has your government committed to five- or ten-year core funding agreements for these institutions, A-Base funding?

This is a very important question. I think the conclusion and answer to that is that these institutions aren’t going anywhere, and their success is proof of that. I know I noted at the beginning that 348 First Nations have been scheduled to the act, and 77 of those have accessed that $1.6 billion in financing that has put Indigenous big business on the map, which is nice to see across the country.

We’re dedicated as a country and as a government to support all of these institutions with regular, recurring funding. They are often subject to periodic financing reviews. That is work we need to continue on an ongoing basis.

I’ll allow Chris Duschenes, perhaps, to add to that. The total funding is about $66.7 million currently. I think, importantly for the institution, the most important part of this new legislation is the First Nations Infrastructure Institute, also known as FNII, and $12.4 million over three years.

In terms of A-Base funding, I don’t think we are there yet. That is the case for many institutions across government, but I would let Mr. Duschenes qualify that.

Thank you, Mr. Chair and Minister Miller. Thank you for the question, Senator Patterson.

We have secured three years of funding for the launch and operation of the First Nations Infrastructure Institute and five years of funding for the First Nations Financial Management Board, or FMB, and the First Nations Tax Commission, or FNTC. As you are probably aware, the First Nations Finance Authority is, essentially, self-funding.

Those numbers have increased over the years as the mandate of the FMB and FNTC have broadened, so as Minister Miller said, there is periodic review of those numbers to ensure that their operational needs are met. As more First Nations become scheduled to the act, obviously the workload, especially for FMB and FNTC, increases.

Thank you.

Thanks for that answer.

The act also meets a long-standing request to establish the First Nations Infrastructure Institute, and I’m very pleased to see this. I know it has been a long-standing aim of the folks who are leading this initiative.

My question is this: We have a Canada Infrastructure Bank with an Indigenous component, which has been added recently, and I would like to know how you see the First Nations Infrastructure Institute launching with this other source of Indigenous infrastructure funds in the Canada Infrastructure Bank. Has the government figured out who’s going to do what, I guess, to be crude about it?

I think the creation of an Indigenous infrastructure component in the Canada Infrastructure Bank is welcome, but I’m just wondering if it needs to be clarified how that funding will work, who will be eligible and what the mandate of the infrastructure institute created by this bill will correspondingly be?

How these two institutions work together will be a test of their individual successes. In the past, we’ve seen the focus of the Canada Infrastructure Bank, I think, unfortunately be on larger projects, and, by their own definition, that has excluded Indigenous projects. Over the last few years, you’ve seen the Canada Infrastructure Bank adapt — and there are a number of examples that we could provide — to support smaller Indigenous-led projects.

I think the fact that the First Nations Infrastructure Institute — I know Manny Jules behind me is probably jumping to answer this question, so perhaps one of you will ask the same question to him. How they work, really, is not up to the Government of Canada, but I think seeing the need for an infrastructure institute that is focused on Indigenous projects, whether they are ones that are viable on the market or not, is important, because what we’re trying to do is not replace but offer alternatives to a grant-based model, which in and of itself cannot close the infrastructure gap that we see across the country.

Always in these projects, the issue of trust is important, so people seeing themselves in the members of the First Nations Infrastructure Institute that will be supported here is important; whereas, they would not, perhaps, see that with respect to the Canada Infrastructure Bank, regardless of their different and diverging mandates. Frankly, I think, as an editorial note, the current Canada Infrastructure Bank could do a better job at tailoring their needs to Indigenous realities. There is room for cooperation, and hopefully they won’t be tripping over themselves, but I think fundamentally at the base, they do have different mandates.

It would be important for Manny Jules or Harold Calla to pick up on that. There are, sadly, across the country a number of projects with millions of dollars in assets that are just sitting on the ground, so that trust component and the ability to manage projects could be one of the areas where the First Nations Infrastructure Institute could play an important role.

Thank you.

Thanks to everyone for being here today. We don’t always see this full of a committee room, and it’s certainly a testimony, I think, to the importance of this legislation.

My question is going to be pretty basic, but it is something that I don’t personally know the answer to. In our notes, as I understand it, a First Nation must request to be added to the schedule. Minister, I think you said it is by choice; you pointed that out.

I’m curious to know what the process is to request to be part of this. Is there any criteria, other than making the request, in order to be named to the schedule, and how long does that process take?

Senator, that’s a great question. I’ll pass it over.

I thought you might pass it over.