Ottawa plays hardball with First Nations over financial disclosure – Toronto Star
With a final deadline looming for First Nations bands to disclose finances, the federal government is threatening to end funding to groups that don’t comply.
Ottawa is playing hardball with about 80 First Nations bands by threatening to cut off federal funding to those groups that don’t hand over their financial records, along with expenses for chiefs and councillors by Dec. 12.
Letters containing that message have gone out in the past few weeks from Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada to native communities that haven’t complied with the First Nations Financial Transparency, a new law that requires audited statements to be prepared and posted on the federal department’s website.
Of the 582 First Nations bands that must comply with the act, 498 have submitted records, the department says. The documents are for the financial year ending March 31, 2014. There was a July 31 deadline that was extended 120 days for those who hadn’t handed in their information. The full list of requirements is an audited statement, expenses for chiefs and councillors, and an auditor’s report.
