Good morning. I am Manny Jules, chief commissioner of the first nations tax commission. I am speaking to you from the former Kamloops Indian Residential School on my reserve in Kamloops. Thank you for the opportunity to appear as a witness before this committee as part of your examination of Bill C-29, the national council for reconciliation act.
With regard to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action, I am pleased to see the government's decision to enact legislation to make the creation of the national council a reality. The establishment of a permanent, non-political, indigenous-led organization to advance reconciliation with indigenous people is something all Canadians can and should support.
There is much work to be done with respect to reconciliation in Canada. I know that in my own community, we are still trying to come to grips with the discovery of graves of children who attended the Kamloops Residential School. That was almost 18 months ago, and the feeling of shock, pain, anger and sadness has not subsided. I attended the Kamloops Indian Residential School as a day scholar. My father attended the school until grade 9. My mother attended the school until grade 3.
Over the last three years, the First Nations Tax Commission undertook a research study about Canada's colonial policies from 1867 until 1927, leading to the prohibition of our power to collect taksis. We recently made a 15-minute film about this research. I will provide this to this committee. I believe it will help you understand who is truly to blame. I believe it will help you understand how residential schools were part of the government-led strategy to take away our children and destroy our governments, culture, jurisdictions and fiscal powers. I believe it will help you understand why there can be no real reconciliation without economic reconciliation.
When I say economic reconciliation, I am talking about two fundamental components. One is that first nation governments must have jurisdictions and unassailable revenue authorities that help fund the exercise of those jurisdictions. The second is that first nations need to implement their jurisdiction and fiscal powers in a way that attracts investment from their members, and others, to participate in the economy on equal terms with everyone else.
I have devoted most of my life to achieving economic reconciliation. Over the years, I have appeared many times before parliamentary committees to make proposals for economic reconciliation with first nations. With the support of Parliament, we have changed legislation to accommodate our property, local and sales tax jurisdictions in Canada. We have created a first nations national institutional model that enables interested first nations to implement their jurisdictions. As I said earlier, I believe first nation reconciliation must include economic reconciliation.
The First Nations Fiscal Management Act institutions have been doing this successfully for almost 20 years. For this reason, I recommend that Bill C-29 be amended so that the council's first board of directors also includes a member of the First Nations Fiscal Management Act institutions to ensure economic reconciliation is addressed as a foundation for reconciliation. This is a significant gap, and I believe it must be addressed now, not five years from now.
I look forward to working with this committee in the future on many more first nation-led innovations that will provide Canada with what it needs right now: hope and inspiration for a brighter future for all.
Thank you very much.