Mr. Chairman, members of the committee, for over 20 years I've been working with first nations to implement taxation, build infrastructure, and improve services.
There are about 140 first nation tax authorities, and since 1990 they have generated at least $800 million in local revenues. The first nations tax authorities have used local initiatives and development of local capacity to bring jobs and business opportunities to their communities and regions. We are proud of what has been accomplished and were pleased to be able to demonstrate this to parliamentarians by hosting them in Kamloops last year. I must note here that the committee members were very interested in our work and, in particular, our proposed first nations property ownership act.
The First Nations Tax Commission and tax-collecting first nations have achieved a great deal. However, much more can be done. First nations are still tremendously disadvantaged. The investment market does not work as well on our lands as it does elsewhere. Our infrastructure is still inadequate. We need to change this.
First nations are the fastest-growing component of the Canadian workforce, and also include Canada's most under-employed people. If we can change that fact, we will create jobs, improve the fiscal balance, and go a long way towards improving the quality of life, even in the face of an aging society and global fiscal challenges.
The key to changing this is to allow the market to work on first nations lands by using local capacities to create sustainable infrastructure systems. Today the First Nations Tax Commission is putting forward two initiatives that will help these goals.
The first initiative is our first nations property ownership act. We are asking the government to expedite this development and the passage of this act, and to commit itself to providing the resources necessary to implement it and ensure its success. Ten first nations have confirmed their interest in implementing this act. The passage of this act would allow them to own their own lands, to put an end to the paternalism of the Indian Act, where a land is described as “a tract of land, the legal title to which is vested in Her Majesty, that has been set apart by Her Majesty for the use and benefit of a band....”
This would be a significant step forward in dismantling the Indian Act, which is seen as a relic of colonialism. It would end the injustice my father described 43 years ago when he said, we don't even own our own lands.
However, the first nations property ownership act is much more than a symbolic act. The passage and implementation of this act would allow the market to operate more effectively for these first nations. It would allow us, as my father said in 1968, to move at the speed of business. The first nations property ownership act would allow these first nations to bypass the cumbersome bureaucratic processes regarding land use. First nations would assume responsibility and authority over their lands just like any other government. The end result would be lower costs of doing business, improved reporting requirements, and less bureaucracy.
The first nations property ownership act would also allow participating first nations to create the same property rights used in real estate, credit, and investment markets elsewhere in the country. These rights would be registered in our Torrens system, which is recognized as the best form of land title system in the world. As a result, people conducting business would be able to draw on the same bankers, lawyers, and real estate professionals for these types of transactions as they would elsewhere. Investors would be able to make commitments with the same confidence that they do anywhere else. Businesses would be able to work at the same speed with first nations, using this act as they do in any other market. First nations people and their governments would be able to access credit on the same terms as others in Canada.
Second, we're asking for a new approach for infrastructure tailored to meeting the needs of taxing first nation communities. And we'll work with you on implementing it.
Thank you.