INAC to be more "vigilant"

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Two senior members of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's (INAC) bureaucracy travelled to Western Canada for a series of media briefings in April. Gordon Shanks, the assistant deputy minister for corporate services, and Cal Hegge, the director of the transfer payments directorate's finance branch, met with Windspeaker in Edmonton on April 20.

"What we're doing is going across the country talking to various media, trying to open up some lines of communication in terms of Aboriginal issues," said Shanks.

Shanks said INAC feels the national press needs some education when it comes to First Nations accountability issues.

"The whole question of accountability has come onto the public agenda in the last couple of years in a major way," he said. "Particularly, the auditor general continues to press home his points of view with respect to accountability from the federal perspective and from the First Nations perspective."

Minister Nault and his senior bureaucrats have stepped up their efforts to educate legislators, the press and the public because, Shanks said, there are a lot of misinformed points of view about First Nation governments. Canadian Alliance (Reform) Party members have enlisted the aid of disenchanted grassroots First Nation members to bring pressure on the federal government to more strictly regulate First Nations. Shanks insists the few extreme cases where band councils find themselves in financial trouble are played up to alarm the public while the majority, the effective councils, are ignored. But he admitted there are problems, to varying degrees, with openness and accountability in most First Nations.

"We're concerned about that. We're trying to work government-to-government. We're trying to strengthen that governance. The legal framework to do that, essentially, isn't there now. The Indian Act, as a piece of federal legislation, doesn't do that job. The minister has been talking about the statutory base being inadequate and musing about how that might be improved. The Standing Committee of Aboriginal Affairs is asking about whether new legislation ought to be introduced to deal with some of those governance issues that seem to be so lacking. The Indian Act is archaic. It was never set up for modern governments. It doesn't have any of the things that you need when you look at how a council should run. Nothing in the Indian Act that tells a council how to run, what are the financial parameters. There's nothing in the Indian Act about finances. So the minister is saying 'I'm not sure that's fair to First Nations people.' You need to have something to hang your hat on. Now can you amend the Indian Act to do that or do you need to come up with something new?," asked Shanks.

"The inherent right to self government is a process that's moving down the track. The minister is saying that's great for those that are on that track, but probably the majority are, for the foreseeable future, dealing with more practical issues such as the Indian Act, elections and financial matters. So maybe an elections act? Maybe a governance act? Something like that has some promise. He's been talking to the national chief about it. I mean, the most I can say is he's musing out loud - there's nothing definitive. Certainly nothing's been before any committees or before Parliament or anything of that nature. I mean it's probably something that's got to have a ground swell from the First Nations leaders. Mr. Fontaine is musing as well."

In the absence of a solid legislative base, Shanks said the best that can be done is to work hard to create a more professional public service support system for band councils.

"We are concerned that the ability for redress is not as good as it ought to be in some cases," he said. Shanks said Stoney First Nation in southern Alberta, currently under third-party management, is a good example of the breakdown in the administrative structure. But while accountability is important, good governanceand outcomes also matter.

"It's creating a better quality of life for a person living on the reserve that really matters, and the resources are voted by Parliament for that end. So it's outcomes, it's not accountability for the sake of accountability. Although public confidence in administrators is important."

While some accountability concerns stem from political agendas, there are areas where the department concedes things can be improved. In response to that, First Nations are finding - or will soon discover - that INAC is tightening the rules on financial reporting in a minor but significant way.

"I'm not sure what the right verb is . . . but we're becoming more vigilant, I guess, in terms of the funding agreements. We're going to be insisting on audits being done properly and on time. The terms and conditions of our agreements say that First Nations must, as a part of their financial statements, include a schedule outlining salaries and honoraria of chiefs, councillors and senior officials. We have not been requiring to see that in all cases."

But even though INAC will now have the information on file, it still will not be readily available to the press or the public at large.

"It's not public information," said Shanks. "The view of the minister is that it's information that should be available to the community, so it's public in that sense, in the First Nations community sense. There are various views on whether it's general public information. The minister has been on the record as saying that his view is that this is something that the community has to decide."

Hegge emphasized that the department has not set a major policy change in place but only a subtle change in approach to an existing policy.

"Where the little nuance is is that we have not vigorously applied that requirement for those First Nations that are in good financial shape and that's where it's more of a change in our practice," he said.

A recent controversy embroiled Nova Scotia ChiefAllison Bernard when leaked documents suggested he was taking home a six-figure annual income. Suggestions have been made that the department should step in to ensure nothing like that can happen. Shanks said that kind of approach doesn't respect the rights of the people to democratically decide how they will be governed.

"Where the minister's coming from, he's saying that it's not up to him or us what Allison Bernard should earn as the chief. It's up to the members of Eskasoni," Shanks said. "They've got to know and so what we can do to assist in that is to insist that that information be made available to the people who vote for the chief and council. There's going to be another election in Eskasoni and you know that information will be a factor that the people are going to weigh in their decision on who they vote for. Now, what we have to be sure of is public resources that go to that community, go to deliver the services for which they're intended. We're not prepared to sit by and say let's reduce the education quality and give the chief and council a raise. But if the community is earning money from other sources, if the economy is doing well, if they've invested in an economic venture or whether they're, like the Nova Scotia case where there's gaming revenues that are coming in - that's not money that we can directly influence. What we can do is ensure the community is aware of their revenues; that's what the consolidated audit does - that that is available to them and then they make a democratic decision. The ballot box is not a perfect instant means of redress but it certainly is an effective one over time."

But isn't it a fact that many elections in First Nations are influenced more by family ties than by a vote on the issues, Windspeaker asked.

Shanks agreed, but said that will change as governance structures evolve.

"The Corbiere decision is going to have some influence on the electoral process and there's going to be some interesting discussion and ebate over the next year as to how to respond to that judicial decision. I guess we have some faith that democratic principles will continue to grow as information becomes more available, as Aboriginal communities become more open and more accessible and I think we have to point to the media. The media have a role to play in ensuring that there's an informed debate on reserves," he said.

Shanks said the emphasis is now on building stability within First Nation administrations and separating politics from management.

"First Nations' leaders want to be self-sufficient, they want their communities to move forward. You've got to remove the barriers to participation in the economy. You've got to engage the provinces who are major players in the resource sector working with northern Alberta in the forest industry, in the oil and gas industry, Saskatchewan in the mining industry. Forestry in New Brunswick. That's where we're going to see the effort."