Evidence of meeting #49 for Indigenous and Northern Affairs in the 41st Parliament, 1st Session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was information.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Thank you very much.
Ms. Kustra, you said you worked very closely with Chief Darcy Bear to address some of the concerns and to try to make sure that the legislation was truly reflective of those things he felt concerned about. Did you work with anybody else?
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Chief Darcy Bear, I believe, is the only one who officially wrote to the minister in December of 2011, after the introduction of the legislation, to express his concerns, and he actually did come forward with some proposed wording for amendments to the bill at that time.
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
With his advisers, Chief Darcy Bear is the only first nations leader we have worked with to specifically address the concerns that have been raised.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Given the concerns that the AFN has raised on this bill, nobody approached the AFN to see about comments to have a better piece of legislation that could be acceptable to them, is that right?
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
That's correct.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Thank you.
You also mentioned 250 complaints. Was that this year alone?
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Those statistics are since January of 2011. Those are official letters that come in to the complaints and allegations unit in the Department of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development.
NDP
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
I don't have that.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
If you have it, could you table it, please?
The question was asked about how many communities there were as well. If you could also table that information, it would be great. If any of them were by the same person, could you also table that and say, "This person called and made so many complaints". Could you do that?
Conservative
NDP
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
I don't think they would share personal information of individuals.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
It doesn't have to be for that particular individual. What it can say is that they've received 20 complaints from one individual for the same first nation. It doesn't even matter if the name of the first nation is there or not. I only want to know the statistics. Obviously, if she has 250, we should be able to get that.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
We'll leave it to the department to determine what will be appropriate.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Okay.
The Canadian Bar Association indicated that
Most communities do not have funding to build the infrastructure necessary for Internet access, or the resources to create and maintain their own websites.
They go on to say that
Many initiatives with the potential to streamline reporting have been started but have not resulted in meaningful improvement.
You talked about the reporting, and Ms. Crowder mentioned the tribal councils, and we know the tribal councils have played an integral role in helping some of the smaller first nations to build capacity in order to address the financial issues and the accountability and transparency that they all strive for. I'm wondering if you could you tell me what the department has done so far to reduce the reporting burden on first nations. Also, is the department looking at providing first nations with the necessary tools to ensure they get access to the Internet, or to be able to create the capacity they need to be able to use it?
Thank you.
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Thank you very much for those questions.
With respect to the requirement in the legislation to publish information on the Internet, there are a number of ways that can happen. The information can be published on a first nations website. If they don't have their own website, the first nation can make arrangements with another organization to have the information published on their website, such as a tribal council or a service organization such as the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada or something else. It doesn't have to be on a community website.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Because you mentioned the fact that the tribal councils have had their funding slashed, I'm wondering what the capacity will be for them to do that.
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Tribal councils will continue to provide the services that their first nations request of them. The issue around the reductions to tribal council funding relates to the fact that tribal councils will no longer be required to deliver five specific advisory services in order to be eligible for funding from the department.
NDP
Carol Hughes NDP Algoma—Manitoulin—Kapuskasing, ON
Is one of those advisory services with respect to financial assistance for other first nations?
Director General, Governance Branch, Regional Operations Sector, Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development
Yes. One of the advisory services that tribal councils were providing was in relation to financial management. However, the tribal councils can continue to provide that service to their member first nations. The only difference is that it's not one of the five mandatory services that the tribal council had to deliver in order to receive funding from the department, but they will still be able to deliver it if their member first nations request it of them.
Conservative
The Chair Conservative Chris Warkentin
Thank you, Ms. Hughes. You are out of time.
Ms. Crowder has a point for clarification.