First Nations Fiscal Management Act (S.C. 2005, c. 9)

Marginal note:Examiner

• 123 (1) Subject to subsection (2), a special examination shall be carried out by the auditor of the institution.

• Marginal note:Other auditor

  (2) If, in the opinion of the Minister, a person other than the auditor of an institution should carry out a special examination in respect of the institution, the Minister may, after consulting with the board of directors of the institution, direct that the examination be carried out by another auditor who is qualified for the purpose.

Marginal note:Consultation with Auditor General

124 The auditor or examiner of an institution may at any time consult the Auditor General of Canada on any matter relating to an audit or special examination.

Marginal note:Right to information

• 125 (1) At the request of the auditor or examiner of an institution, the present or former commissioners, directors, officers, employees or agents or mandataries of the institution shall provide any information and explanations, and give access to any records, documents, books, accounts and vouchers of the institution that are under their control, that the auditor or examiner considers necessary to prepare a report required under this Act.

• Marginal note:Obligation to inform

  (2) If a commissioner or director of an institution does not have information or an explanation requested by an auditor or examiner under subsection (1), the commissioner or director shall obtain the information or explanation and provide it to the auditor or examiner.

Marginal note:Restriction

126 Nothing in this Part or in any directions of the Minister shall be construed as authorizing the auditor or examiner of an institution to express any opinion on the merits of matters of policy, including the merits of

• (a) the objects or purposes for which the institution was established or the restrictions on the businesses or activities that it may carry on, as set out in this Act; or

• (b) any business or policy decision of the institution.

Marginal note:Qualified privilege

127 An oral or written statement or report made under this Part by an auditor or examiner has qualified privilege.

Marginal note:Audit committee

• 128 (1) Each institution shall establish an audit committee composed of not less than three commissioners or directors who are not officers of the institution and who are competent to perform the duties set out in subsection (2).

• Marginal note:Duties

  (2) An audit committee shall

  • (a) review, and advise the board of directors in respect of, the financial statements that are to be included in the annual report of the institution;

  • (b) oversee any internal audit of the institution;

  • (c) review, and advise the board of directors in respect of, the annual auditor’s report in respect of the institution;

  • (d) review, and advise the board of directors in respect of, any plan and report of a special examiner; and

  • (e) perform any other functions that are assigned to it by the board of directors of the institution.

• Marginal note:Auditor’s or examiner’s attendance

  (3) An auditor and any examiner of an institution are entitled to receive notice of every meeting of the audit committee and, at the expense of the institution, to attend and be heard at each meeting.

• Marginal note:Required attendance

  (4) The auditor or examiner of an institution shall attend any meeting of the institution’s audit committee at which he or she is requested to attend by a member of that committee.

• Marginal note:Calling meeting

  (5) The auditor or examiner of an institution or a member of the institution’s audit committee may call a meeting of that committee.

Marginal note:Disclosure of material developments

129 The chief executive officer of an institution shall, as soon as reasonably practica­ble, notify the Minister and any commissioner or director of the institution not already aware of them of any financial or other developments that, in the chief executive officer’s opinion, are likely to have a material effect on the perform­ance of the institution, relative to its objectives or requirements for funding.

Marginal note:Annual report

• 130 (1) Each institution shall, within four months after the end of each financial year, submit to the Minister an annual report on the operations of the institution in that year.

• Marginal note:Form and contents

  (2) The annual report of an institution shall be prepared in a form that clearly sets out information according to the major businesses or activities of the institution and shall include

  • (a) the financial statements of the institution;

  • (b) the annual auditor’s report;

  • (c) a statement on the extent to which the institution has met its objectives for the financial year;

  • (d) any quantitative information respecting the performance of the institution that the Minister may require to be included; and

  • (e) any other information that is required under this Act or any other Act of Parliament.

Marginal note:Annual meeting

• 131 (1) The board of directors of an institution shall call an annual meeting not later than 18 months after the institution is established and subsequently not later than 15 months after the preceding annual meeting.

• Marginal note:Notice of meeting

  (2) An institution shall, at least 30 days before the annual meeting, publish a notice in a major newspaper setting out the time and location of the meeting and specifying that the institution’s annual report may be accessed on an Internet website to be maintained by the institution.

• Marginal note:Availability to public

  (3) At the annual meeting, the board of directors shall ensure that

  • (a) there are available a sufficient number of copies of the institution’s most recent annual report for those present at the meeting; and

  • (b) the chief executive officer and the commissioners or directors of the institution are available to those present at the meeting to answer any questions about the institution’s operations.

PART 7Provisions of General Application

General

Marginal note:Conflict of interest

• 132 (1) No person who is appointed to, or is employed by, a commission, board or authority established under this Act shall be appointed to, or be employed by, any other commission, board or authority established under this Act.

• Marginal note:Conflict of interest

  (2) No person referred to in subsection (1) shall accept or hold any office or employment that is inconsistent with that person’s duties or take part in any matter involving the commission, board or authority in which that person has an interest.

• Marginal note:Conflict of interest

  (3) All persons appointed to a commission or board established under this Act shall comply with the Conflict of Interest Act as though they were public office holders as defined in that Act.

Marginal note:Liability of Her Majesty

• 133 (1) No person has a right to receive any compensation, damages, indemnity or other relief from Her Majesty in right of Canada in respect of any claim against the First Nations Tax Commission, First Nations Financial Management Board or First Nations Finance Authority arising from its exercise of, or its failure to exercise, any of the powers or functions of that Commission, Board or Authority, as the case may be, including any claim against the First Nations Tax Commission as an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Insurance required

  (2) The First Nations Tax Commission, First Nations Financial Management Board and First Nations Finance Authority shall maintain in good standing at all times the insurance coverage required by any regulations made under paragraph 140(b).

Marginal note:No appropriation

134 No payment to the First Nations Tax Commission, First Nations Financial Management Board or First Nations Finance Authority may be made under an appropriation by Parliament authorized under an Act of Parliament to enable the Commission, Board or Authority to satisfy any claim referred to in subsection 133(1).

Marginal note:No compensation

135 No person has a right to receive any compensation, damages, indemnity or other relief from Her Majesty in right of Canada, or from the First Nations Tax Commission, for any acquired, vested or future right, or for any prospect of such a right, that is affected by a law approved by the First Nations Tax Commission under subsection 31(3), or for any duty or liability imposed on that person as a result of such a law.

Marginal note:Limit of liability — commissioner, director, employee, etc.

136 No civil proceedings lie against a commissioner or employee of the First Nations Tax Commission, a director or employee of the First Nations Financial Management Board or a person acting on behalf of the Commission or Board for anything done, or omitted to be done, in the exercise or purported exercise in good faith of any power, or in the performance or purported performance in good faith of any duty, of that person in accordance with this Act or regulations made under this Act.

Marginal note:Limit of liability — co-management or third-party management

136.1 Despite anything in federal or provincial law, if the First Nations Financial Management Board has required a First Nation to enter into a co-management arrangement in respect of the First Nation’s local revenues in accordance with section 52 or has assumed management of a First Nation’s local revenues in accordance with section 53, neither the Board nor any director or employee of the Board or person acting on behalf of the Board is by reason of that fact liable for any liability of the First Nation.

Marginal note:Personal liability for costs

136.2 No director or employee of the First Nations Financial Management Board or person acting on behalf of the Board is personally liable for costs

• (a) awarded in any civil proceedings brought against any of them in relation to anything done, or omitted to be done, in the exercise or purported exercise of any power, or in the performance or purported performance of any duty, of that person or the Board in accordance with this Act or the regulations made under this Act, unless a court otherwise directs; or

• (b) awarded against the Board in any civil proceedings.

Marginal note:Limit of liability

137 No civil proceedings lie against a member of a council or an employee of a First Nation for anything done, or omitted to be done, during the course of the exercise or purported exercise in good faith of any power, or the performance or purported performance in good faith of any duty, of that member or employee in accordance with this Act, regulations made under this Act or a law made by the council of a First Nation under this Act.

Marginal note:Conflict with other laws

• 138 (1) In the event of a conflict between a local revenue law and an Act of Parliament or any regulations made under an Act of Parliament or a code made by a First Nation under another Act of Parliament, the Act, regulations or code prevails to the extent of the conflict.

• Marginal note:Conflict with other First Nation laws

  (2) In the event of a conflict between a law made by a First Nation under this Act and a law, other than a code, made by the First Nation under another Act of Parliament, the law made by the First Nation under this Act prevails to the extent of the conflict.

Marginal note:Official languages

• 139 (1) For greater certainty, the provisions of the Official Languages Act applicable to federal institutions apply to the First Nations Tax Commission.

• Marginal note:Official languages

  (2) Where there is a significant demand for services in a particular official language, the First Nations Financial Management Board and First Nations Finance Authority shall offer services in that language.

Regulations

Marginal note:Regulations

140 The Governor in Council may make regulations

• (a) prescribing anything that is to be prescribed under subsection 20(3) or 41(2) or section 116; and

• (b) respecting the insurance coverage required to be maintained by the First Nations Tax Commission, First Nations Financial Management Board and First Nations Finance Authority in respect of liabilities referred to in subsection 133(1), including the circumstances in which the Commission, Board or Authority would be exempt from that requirement.

Marginal note:Regulations

• 141 (1) For the purpose of enabling an Aboriginal group that is not a band as defined in subsection 2(1) of the Indian Act but is a party to a treaty, land claims agreement or self-government agreement with Canada to benefit from the provisions of this Act or obtain the services of any body established under this Act, the Governor in Council may make any regulations that the Governor in Council considers necessary, including regulations

  • (a) adapting any provision of this Act or of any regulation made under this Act; and

  • (b) restricting the application of any provision of this Act or of any regulation made under this Act.

• Marginal note:Amendments to schedule in regulations

  (2) If the regulations made under subsection (1) include a schedule listing the Aboriginal groups that are subject to those regulations, the Minister may, by order, at the request of the governing body of an Aboriginal group referred to in that subsection, amend the schedule in order to

  • (a) add or change the name of the Aboriginal group; or

  • (b) delete the name of the Aboriginal group, as long as there are no amounts owing by the Aboriginal group to the First Nations Finance Authority that remain unpaid.

Marginal note:Regulations — organizations referred to in paragraph 50.1(1)(e)

141.1 For the purpose of enabling an organization referred to in paragraph 50.1(1)(e) to benefit from the provisions of this Act, other than Parts 1, 2 and 5, or obtain the services of the First Nations Financial Management Board or the First Nations Finance Authority, the Governor in Council may make any regulations that the Governor in Council considers necessary, including regulations

• (a) adapting any provision of this Act or of any regulation made under this Act; and

• (b) restricting the application of any provision of this Act or of any regulation made under this Act.