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

This enactment amends the First Nations Fiscal Management Act to expand and modernize the mandates of the First Nations Tax Commission and the First Nations Financial Management Board in order to better reflect their current and future activities.
The enactment also establishes a First Nations Infrastructure Institute that will provide First Nations and other interested Indigenous groups and organizations with tools and support, including with respect to best practices, to implement and manage their infrastructure. It also provides First Nations named in the schedule to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act with the power to make laws to regulate services provided by or on behalf of the First Nations.
The enactment also aims to improve the functioning of that Act, including by integrating the content of the Financing Secured by Other Revenues Regulations , by combining into a single fund the debt reserve fund for financing secured by property tax revenues and the debt reserve fund for financing secured by other revenues and by simplifying the way certain Indigenous groups participate in pooled-borrowing.
Finally, the enactment makes consequential amendments to the Access to Information Act and to the Privacy Act and includes a clarification that addresses a transitional administrative oversight that followed the establishment in 2019 of the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs and the Department of Indigenous Services.

First Nations Fiscal Management Act

[Lori Idlout, NDP, Nunavut, NU]

Uqaqtittiji, this is very much a question about whether there can be true self-determination as indigenous peoples have been suppressed and oppressed for so long, which is why I made sure in my presentation that I talked about the genocidal policies still having an impact on first nations, Métis and Inuit communities. We have to start making sure that if we are going to talk about self-determination, if we are going to talk about reconciliation, there need to be continued investments, there need to be improved and increased investments, that allow first nations, Métis and Inuit to thrive and have a better well-being at the same level that other Canadians do here in Canada.

[The Deputy Speaker, Chris d'Entremont]

There being no further members rising, pursuant to an order made earlier today, 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 is deemed read a third time and passed.

(Bill read the third time and passed)