‘Idle No More’ Protest (Source: CTVNews)

The First Nations peoples of Canada are self-governed groups that have obtained rights to reserve lands where many Aboriginal peoples live with a tax-free advanatage. The Canadian government acts as a large revenue source to fund these communities so that they can provide services to their people that include education, housing, and many programs that would be typically provided by the municipal or provincial government.

The First Nations Transparency Act is a recent legislation by the Canadian government that requires all Indian bands make their financial documents available annually to the members of their community as well as to publish on a website after being audited. This comes from the government’s 2011 committment to support democratic, transparent and accountable First Nations governments. Many band members collect salaries from the funds provided by the Canadian government and their have been cases in the past, notably Attawapiskat, where these salaries have been inflated and come at the cost of not supporting their community and forcing them to face below average living conditions.

As a member of the X’axlip band in BC, I recognize many issues that this act may resolve and am all for more democratic First Nations governments. Although I live off-reserve, I am still a part of this First Nations group, but I am unsure as to how the council members are elected and how they use their financial resources. I understand that there are many challenges that face the on-reserve populations and hope that I will see changes in the unfortunate statistics that include suicide, high school completion or post-secondary education, crime and poverty rates in my lifetime. These social issues can’t possibly be resolved by pouring funding into them, but that could be a first step.