Thank you.
One of our challenges is that we have a 2% cap on all federal funding that's coming in, and it doesn't meet the needs of the first nations right now. The chiefs of the Atlantic region, and particularly the chiefs of Prince Edward Island, wanted me to note that we represent not just the populations on reserve, but the populations off-reserve as well, ever since the Corbiere decision of the Supreme Court of Canada. Off-reserve members come to me because they voted for me. I'm accountable to those people.
As far as other tools go, we have to look at those transfer agreements. I talked about the equalization payments that are issued to the Atlantic provinces. They're inclusive and count all the numbers in the first nations communities. When I look at those people on my reserve, they represent $2 million. It doesn't sound like very much, but that's $2 million transferred to the Province of New Brunswick for services and programs that are not directed toward us, because they say we're a federal responsibility. So that's an issue that has to be addressed by the federal government.
On the tools of governance, the taxation regime is critical, but not all first nations are there yet, because they have to go by community referendums. That's why you need to transform that mentality on the reserve.
So it's a matter of assistance in areas like that.
Thank you.