Finance committee  I don't know that I have the wording off by heart. It is indigenous or aboriginal groups that are subject to a treaty, so yes, it could go that far.

Finance committee  Subject to a treaty with Canada, and I believe there's some modification of that to include provinces and territories.

Finance committee  Yes.

Finance committee  That's already in the act. There's that flexibility.

Finance committee  There are no current changes to the act contemplated for indigenous languages yet. I think that perhaps as that bill moves forward, the indigenous languages act, we may see some changes necessary to the act. It's not currently contemplated.

Finance committee  I might have misspoken or not spoken clearly enough. Currently the tax commission works with first nation communities who are interested in putting in place a taxation regime. There's nothing to prevent them from already using their indigenous languages, as long as it's available as well in the language of the residents—the taxpayers—who are living in the community.

Finance committee  That's where the tax commission would come into play. They would ensure that taxpayers are able to understand the changes—the taxes—that are in front of them. There is a dispute mechanism, as well, for the tax commission. They do ensure representation of taxpayers. That's how the First Nations Tax Commission is set up.

Finance committee  Currently the regime applies to what we call Indian Act first nations although it does contemplate self-governing first nations accessing the regime. There's a regulatory power included in the act, and we're currently working with our partners at the Department of Justice to develop those regulations.

Finance committee  There's a specific amendment power under section 141 that allows adaptation regulations to the act to enable self-governing first nations to be able to opt in to the regime, just like a first nation would.

Finance committee  It would be first nations who are still under the Indian Act.

Finance committee  The way the act is structured is for first nations who are still under the Indian Act. We would need to be able to modify that in order to address paramountcy concerns with provinces, and with the self-governing first nations as well. That's what those adaptation regulations help us to do.

Finance committee  We currently have three treaty first nations who are partnering with us to develop those regulations. However, there are many others who are asking. As soon as these standard regulations are in place, we'll be able to schedule self-governing first nations to choose to opt in to it.

Finance committee  Yes. In order to develop we need to modify the regime slightly. There are some sections of the regime that have to change—the vocabulary, the framework, the governance framework that's in place—in order to work for treaty first nations. They will be able to opt in and choose, just like an Indian Act first nation would be able to do.

Finance committee  Thank you. I'm here to speak to clauses 385 to 414 regarding the First Nations Fiscal Management Act changes in front of you. This act came into effect in 2006 and has established a strong framework for first nations who opted into the regime to implement taxation and fiscal management and to access long-term financing to meet their economic development and infrastructure needs.