Discussion continued today in Ottawa on a controversial bill that proposes to force First Nations bands to disclose their financial information online.
Chiefs and lawyers from the Assembly of First Nations and the Idle No More movement testified before the Senate Standing Committee on Aboriginal Peoples on Bill C-27.
Charlene Desroches is a lawyer who is closely associated with the Idle No More movement.
She says the government’s approach to this and many other issues is flawed and argues Ottawa is taking a piece-by-piece approach to First Nations issues when a holistic approach is warranted.
“You can’t look at First Nations issues in isolation on a piece-by-piece basis like the Bill C-27 approach,” she says. “You have to look at First Nations on a holistic level. Bill C-27 affects our lives on every other angle. That’s been the whole problem from day one is the political parties are taking an issue by issue examination of our lives.”
Senator Lillian Dyck says a lot of rhetoric is getting thrown around about so called non-compliant bands but she hasn’t heard any statistics to back that up.
Desroches says she isn’t aware of any numbers that have been commonly agreed on but adds any band member who feels they’re not getting financial disclosure from chief and council can take them to court.
The committee also heard the proposed legislation would not apply to First Nations that are self-governing.