Don't Repeal First Nations Financial Transparency Act

(This commentary ran in the National Post on Tuesday, August 25, 2015) Imagine Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau promising to keep his salary a secret after being elected prime minister. It’s an unfair violation of privacy, he might say. It only serves to inflame negative stereotypes about overpaid politicians. And why should people in other countries be able to look up his prime ministerial salary on the Internet?

Canadians would never accept that lack of transparency, yet that’s exactly what Trudeau wants to impose on First Nations communities. He has promised to repeal the First Nations Financial Transparency Act (FNFTA). Meanwhile, NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair voted against the legislation, but has failed to make it clear what he will do if elected. The FNFTA is simple: it ensures Canadians living on reserves have access to the salaries paid to their elected chiefs and councils, as well as audited band financial statements. It’s the type of information that’s been a Google-search away for all other Canadians for years. One need not be a master political strategist to deduce Trudeau’s gambit: some First Nations politicians do not like this law and Trudeau hopes to earn their support by pledging to get rid of it. But if he is truly interested in looking out for the interests of First Nations people — and not simply pandering to a handful of obstructionist chiefs — he should consider how this law came into being in the first place. The FNFTA’s lineage can be traced to complaints brought forward by First Nations people themselves. Phyllis Sutherland from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba publicized information about dubious spending in her own community. As champions of transparency and accountability for politicians at all levels, we at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation were happy to assist in the effort, helping to ensure that First Nations people would finally have the same ability as all other Canadians to know something as simple as the salaries of their elected officials. First Nations leaders who make clumsy arguments that the FNFTA is “racist” or “unnecessary,” do so in the face of a number of very inconvenient facts. For example, the notion that First Nations politicians are being “singled out” for a form of draconian transparency is difficult to reconcile with the fact that the salaries of virtually all politicians at federal, provincial and municipal levels across Canada are already made public online for all the world to see. And revelations from First Nations that have come to light since the FNFTA became law, such as in the case of Chief Ron Giesbrecht of the Kwikwetlam First Nation in B.C. last year and the Semiahmoo First Nation more recently, greatly undermine any assertions that that First Nations people “already have access to this information.”

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This information gap was best illustrated by Kwikwetlam band council member Joe Marvin when he said: “I want the public to know that the membership knew nothing about this. And if it wasn’t for this new transparency act, I don’t think we ever would have known.” Let that sink in: a member of the elected band council had no clue his chief had pocketed $800,000 of band money as part of a land deal until the FNFTA forced its exposure. Indeed, with a 98 per cent reporting compliance rate for 2013-14, it’s obvious that the FNFTA has been a resounding success. If anything, it should be expanded to include regional, provincial and national First Nations bodies. Far from inflaming negative stereotypes about First Nations, the FNFTA can actually help to fight them, by giving the large number of excellent chiefs and councillors clear facts to which they can point. Perhaps most importantly, it empowers First Nations people to make more informed decisions about their political leadership. It also allows them to engage on a more equal footing with all Canadians, which will help foster a more informed and fact-based public policy dialogue on all sides. Repealing the FNFTA would be a slap in the face to brave souls like Phyllis Sutherland and every other person from a First Nation who has spoken up and demanded accountability in own their communities. Trudeau should reconsider his ill-advised pledge. Mulcair should break his silence. Anyone wanting to be prime minister must commit to keeping the FNFTA in place. Aaron Wudrick, Federal Director, Canadian Taxpayers Federation