Good morning, committee.
I am Chief Noah Augustine, from Metepenagiag First Nation, and I'm executive co-chair of the Atlantic Policy Congress.
I just want to make a few comments with respect to this committee. I'm not one of those chiefs who come here banging my hands on the table looking for a federal handout, as Chief Lawrence Paul pointed out. In fact, many first nations in the Atlantic region are communities that are generating their own-source revenues now. It's the tools of governance that are of considerable importance here. I'll get into that in a second.
At the same time, it has to be noted that the federal government has a fiduciary responsibility and an obligation that they must be held to, and this is what concerns me, because there are a couple of areas I want to point out where we feel the federal government is not upholding their fiduciary responsibility--for example, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the aboriginal fishery strategy. We entered into an agreement after the Sparrow decision that we receive funding for that particular program in 1993, and today the funding level is still the same: $397,000. With the cost of living increasing and with our population demands and our first nation growing, that's not working out for us. With Health Canada is the same thing. There are some issues there concerning funding. There are a number of programs.
In this limited amount of time, I don't think I'll be able to communicate what I want to talk about, but I want to talk about the federal transfers and the equalization payments that are being transferred to the Atlantic regions. All first nations peoples are incorporated and calculated into those formulas, yet we're not considered a provincial jurisdiction or responsibility; therefore, we don't receive those services.
On the economy side of things, first nations are a major player in the economy; this needs to be noted and it's not being noted. If you look at the Marshall decision--we just had the 10-year anniversary of that. This represented the first time for many first nations to come into the economy. For many first nations it was the first time for them to be generating their own-source revenue, which now puts them in a situation where they have to consider big questions in the economy. What types of economies do they want to develop? Those are some things to think about.
A lot of first nations have a very clear vision of where they want to go. It's the tools of governance that are important to us, not the federal handouts or the federal transfers. One of these tools of governance, for example, at Metepenagiag is the tax regime. We entered into a tax agreement with the Province of New Brunswick, where 95% of all the provincial sales tax revenues come back to the first nations on economic activity generated on reserves. With property tax, many first nations in the Atlantic region are taking advantage of the federal property tax legislation for the first nations taxation commission. Now, these are tools of governance that allow us to create an environment for business on the reserves. With a business attraction strategy, it allows us to bring investors in. I think in the Atlantic region that's critical, because obviously in times of economic downturn you need all players to be participating.
If you look at the demographics of first nations.... I commented to the premier just last week that they have aggressive policies on immigration, and they're talking about repatriating New Brunswickers from out west. In your own backyard you have first nations people who represent a dynamic sector of this population. Since 2000, our population has increased by 14%, while in the Atlantic region it has decreased by 0.7%. In the next 14 years, from the 25 to 44 age groups, we're going to jump up by 25%, while this region is going to decrease by about 13% or 14%. You have to look in your own backyard at the first nations. Demographically, we're a considerable factor here.
I know I don't have much time. I have a lot more to say, but I think I'll just leave it at that, and maybe if there are a few questions I'll handle it then.
Thank you.