Good for the goose?

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The federal cabinet will soon get a chance to prove the government is sincere about the merits of openness and accountability.

Indian Affairs Minister Bob Nault has said many times in recent months that First Nations need to be more accountable. Recently the department froze funding for band councils that have fallen behind in meeting departmental audit requirements. Matthew Coon Come, grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, wants to see if the feds are willing to be as open.

"I've actually asked the auditor general whether he would address an issue that I wanted to raise with him, and that is to ask for what I call reciprocal accountability in their management of Indian monies," Coon Come said. "There was a letter that was fired off and I haven't received an answer, but the indication I got was that the auditor general, once he receives it, he wasn't sure, but he'll probably have to ask the cabinet. It's only the cabinet that could pass an order-in-council to do that. So you can almost get an idea what the answer might be."

The Alberta Samson Cree Nation has filed a $1.4 billion lawsuit, claiming Indian Affairs mismanaged trust funds containing oil and gas revenues. Six Nations, a southern Ontario First Nation, filed a demand in 1994 for an accounting of their lands and monies held in trust by the Crown. Since then, the band has complained that federal lawyers, employing every possible delaying tactic, forcing band officials to wonder if the government can account for its actions.

Native leaders say there's a double standard when it comes to how they are scrutinized. They say that deficits posted by band councils are tiny in comparison to Canada's debt and yet no one ever questions whether Canadians are capable of governing themselves, a common theme in mainstream press coverage when First Nations run into financial difficulties.