January 2008 index

33 First Nations to participate in new property tax system

New regulations published in the Canada Gazette on December 26, 2007 will enable 33 First Nations to participate in the property tax provisions of the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act (FSMA). As a result, these First Nations will have access to additional fiscal tools not currently available under the Indian Act.

“By choosing to exercise property tax jurisdiction under the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act, these First Nations will be better positioned to promote economic growth, strengthen their accountability and foster a better quality of life for their members,” said Chuck Strahl, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians.

For First Nations, property taxes provide an independent and stable source of revenue that can be leveraged in First Nation communities to build economic infrastructure, attract investment and promote sustained economic growth. Under the FSMA, the First Nations Tax Commission will assume and streamline the approval of the real property taxation laws made by participating First Nations and better balance community and taxpayer interests in First Nation communities.

Mr. C.T. (Manny) Jules, Chief Commissioner of the First Nations Tax Commission, congratulated these First Nations in this unprecedented milestone. “We are on the leading edge of change,” said Mr. Jules. “In opting to exercise their tax jurisdiction through the FSMA, these First Nations are laying the foundation for true self-government and a real economy.”

The FSMA came into force on April 1 2006 and is the result of over a decade of work by First Nation leaders who know first hand the limitations of the Indian Act when it comes to building First Nation economies. This optional piece of legislation establishes four national institutions that will improve the ability of First Nations governments to address the social and economic well-being of their communities while providing access to engines of economic development.

Participating First Nations under the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act, beginning January 1, 2008:

• Adams Lake Indian Band
• Akisq'nuk First Nation
• Alexander First Nation
• Chehalis Indian Band
• Chemainus First Nation
• Chippewas of Georgina Island First Nation
• Chippewas of Kettle and Stony Point First Nation
• Kamloops Indian Band
• Kitselas First Nation
• Lequ'á:mel First Nation
• Lower Kootenay Indian Band
• Lower Nicola Indian Band
• Metepenagiag Mi'kmaq Nation
• Moricetown Indian Band
• Muskeg Lake Cree Nation
• Nanoose First Nation
• Osoyoos Indian Band
• Seabird Island Band
• Shuswap First Nation
• Shxwhá:y Village First Nation
• Simpcw First Nation
• Skeetchestn Indian Band
• Sliammon First Nation
• Songhees First Nation
• St. Mary's First Nation
• Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations
• Tobacco Plains Indian Band
• Tobique First Nation
• Tsawout First Nation
• Tsawwassen First Nation
• Tzeachten First Nation
• We Wai Kai Nation
• White Bear First Nation 

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