Fifty-two First Nations groups have failed to report their expenses and chiefs’ salaries to the Canadian government under mandatory transparency laws, according to the Department of Aboriginal Affairs.

The groups in question will face government-imposed sanctions on non-essential services until their leaders have submitted the required documentation. The names of the tardy bands have also been published on the Department of Aboriginal Affairs website.

The Department of Aboriginal Affairs says it will withhold funding for non-essential programs, activities and services at those reserves, and will seek a court order to force their financial information to be published if they do not do so themselves.

“I have started the process to withhold non-essential funding from non-compliant First Nations,” Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt told CTV’s Power Play on Thursday. Valcourt said the 52 non-compliant First Nations have had sufficient time to submit their documents before the Wednesday deadline, and have been warned “many times” that they will be sanctioned if they fail to comply.

Valcourt says the mandatory disclosure process is meant to hold First Nations leaders to the same standard as elected public officials when it comes to spending public money.

“I would home that they would do it for their membership,” Valcourt said of the tardy group leaders.

All First Nations groups were required to publish their financial documents by Wednesday under the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. Among the numbers First Nations are expected to disclose are the salaries for band leaders, to match the salary disclosure practices of federal MPs.

Valcourt said he’s pleased to see that about 90 per cent of the country’s First Nations met the deadline.

Valcourt says the FNFTA is meant to enforce “transparent and accountable governance” among First Nations groups, and to ensure that money those groups make is used to benefit the people.

“They have a right to transparency and accountability, just like every other level of government,” Valcourt said.

The First Nations groups named by the government are from the following provinces and territories:

  • 15 in Manitoba
  • 12 in British Columbia
  • 10 in Saskatchewan
  • 3 in Alberta
  • 1 in Quebec
  • 1 in Yukon
  • 1 in Northwest Territories

Valcourt says so far, six or seven of the outstanding groups have chosen to be “wilfully non-compliant” based on principle.

The Onion Lake Cree Nation on the border of Alberta and Saskatchewan has refused to disclose its financial information, and instead took the matter to court. The band filed a statement of claim in federal court in Edmonton on Wednesday.

“The statement of claim was the last step in a long journey to get the federal government to sit and talk with the Nations,” Onion Lake Cree Chief Wallace Fox said at a news conference Wednesday.

Speaking at a panel on Power Play Thursday, NDP MP Robert Chisholm accused the Tories of “picking a fight” with First Nations, while Green Party Leader Elizabeth May criticized the government for its “onerous and heavy-handed approach” to dealing with non-compliant groups.

Liberal MP Scott Simms added that First Nations should have a chance to consult with the government to address the problem.

Ontario’s Kashechewan First Nation has been granted an extension to submit its documents due to a flood at their reserve last May, the statement says.

The remainder of Canada’s 582 First Nations bands submitted their documents on time.