[Witness speaks in Nisga'a]
The English translation of my Nisga'a name means “pearly fin”, and I've said good evening to you all. It's good to see you all.
As Mr. Chairman has stated, my name is Corinne McKay. I am the elected secretary-treasurer of the Nisga'a Nation. We thank you for the opportunity to present to the Standing Committee on Finance.
I would like to start by noting that the Nisga'a Nation was the first indigenous nation in British Columbia to enter into a modern-day treaty, and I have a copy with me.
The Nisga'a treaty was also the first modern treaty to be constitutionally entrenched as self-government. I note, among the contents of Bill C-86, amendments to the Income Tax Act and the Excise Tax Act, the introduction of the pay equity act, changes to the First Nations Land Management Act, and many other changes.
It's always positive to see budget implementation bills that acknowledge and seek to address the needs of indigenous peoples. This builds on the budget 2018 announcement about specific funding for self-governing indigenous governments. This was the first time that the needs of Canada's modern treaty partners were explicitly acknowledged in a federal budget document.
Future budget processes, including budget implementation, should continue to build on these positive developments in two ways.
First, the needs of self-governing indigenous governments should always be taken into account and be specifically addressed in the budget. For example, there should continue to be specific allocations to self-governing indigenous governments of any infrastructure or housing or gap-closing funds, and I note that there was a discussion on housing just prior to our presentation. Housing is a very real need in our communities, and the status of housing in our communities still leaves much to be desired to improve the housing conditions of our people.
The second is that future fiscal policies related to self-governing indigenous governments should be developed collaboratively. The Government of Canada acknowledged the failings of its pre-existing fiscal policies and invited self-governing indigenous governments to participate in the collaborative fiscal policy development process. It is important to note that this process is separate and apart from the government's engagement with the AFN, the Assembly of First Nations. It is engagement directly with self-governing indigenous governments.
In this collaborative process, indigenous government representatives and federal government representatives work closely to develop a shared understanding of the interests of both Canada and the indigenous governments. They build a new fiscal policy from the ground up. This has never been attempted before. It is important to recognize that the collaborative process for developing policy has resulted in a package of fiscal policy documents that, combined with the commitments Canada has made in modern treaties, are more respectful of the circumstances and needs of the indigenous governments than any previous federal fiscal policy.
This work is to be praised and to be emulated. All future fiscal policies should be developed collaboratively.
We thank you for taking the time to hear the support that we have for the collaborative process. We find it's respectful and it builds on the work that has been done, and we see that this is the start of a new dialogue that will improve the lives of our people, and as Canadians, improve the lives of Canadians.
Thank you.