The head of an accounting firm is downplaying concerns that a new federal bill will hurt the competitiveness of businesses on reserve.
Alan Mak of Rosen & Associates gave testimony last night before the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples in Ottawa.
He says Bill C-27 will only require bands to submit aggregated data on their annual reports.
Some First Nations have suggested this will put band owned companies at a disadvantage if other companies can see this financial information but Mak disagrees.
“I do not believe the reporting requirements will compromise the competitive advantage of First Nations commercial enterprise,” he says. “Because the act calls for reporting consolidated generally accepted principles of prepared financial statements. On that basis, the results for revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities will be highly aggregated and summarized. And, quite frankly, it will be near impossible for anyone to discern the results of specific activities from those statements.”
At the same time he explains the bill doesn’t spell out which standards should be used by First Nations when reporting their finances and that could be a problem.
Mak says some bands use a Canadian standard that went through amendments two years ago.
Others use a First Nations standard and some use international ones.
On Tuesday a band manager from a First Nation in Alberta told the commission that even basic data would give private companies the means to outbid First Nations on certain projects.
If passed, the bill will require First Nations to disclose their financial information online.