The CD Howe Institute says nearly two-thirds of the money generated by on-reserve economic activity in Ontario is being spent on band administration.
Senior policy analyst, Benjamin Dachis, says whether that is too high is not for the institute to judge, but he says the numbers do raise some interesting questions.
“Well the question is how do First Nations communities determine their financial priorities and hold their councils, hold their governments, to account. That is something we hope that this empowers individuals to take a look at,” Dachis said.
The Ontario numbers show 65 per cent of self- generated reserve revenue goes to administration, 24 per cent is spent on economic development while about 10 per cent is spent on health and education.
Dachis says more and more reserves across Canada are generating their own revenues so it is important that band members have access to how the money is spent. He attributes the First Nations Financial Transparency Act with providing that access.