2009 Redesign of the Indian Government Support Programs – Background

In 2009, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC) shared information with First Nations regarding the redesign of the Indian Government Support programs.

All Government of Canada programs are subject to reviews and renewal on a regular basis. As part of this process, the department's authority to fund the Band Support Funding, Band Employee Benefits, Tribal Council Funding, Band Advisory Services, and Professional and Institutional Development programs was set to expire on March 31, 2010.

This presented an opportunity to modernize and simplify these dated programs in a way which supports the strengthening of modern, effective, and accountable First Nation governments. The department's goal in redesigning the programs was to continue to provide equivalent support in the area of Indian Government Support while improving the mechanisms through which this funding flows.

In redesigning this program, AANDC informed stakeholders, providing them with relevant information on proposed program changes and ensuring that they had the opportunity to provide their feedback to the department. Accordingly, meetings with stakeholders took place between February and June 2009.

AANDC met with stakeholders to achieve the following:

1. Sharing information directly with First Nations - A letter was sent on February 5, 2009 to First Nations Chiefs and Councils and to Provincial/Territorial Organizations informing them of the proposed changes to the Indian Government Support programs. Where possible, and through the coordination of AANDC regional offices, presentations were made through existing regional fora of First Nations leaders and Provincial-Territorial Organizations.
   
   
2. Inviting technical-level input from tribal council administrators - The department sought feedback on technical details of the new program design through face-to-face meetings with senior tribal council administrators. In March 2009, one meeting was held in eastern Canada and one meeting was held in western Canada with tribal council executive directors.
   
   
3. Inviting technical-level input from First Nations administrators - The department sought feedback on technical details of the new program design through face-to-face meetings with senior First Nations administrators. In June 2009, one meeting with First Nation administrators was held in each of eastern Canada, western Canada and central Canada.

In addition, an Advisory Panel was established. Several participants were chosen for their collective experience in band governance, northern governance, and governance capacity development and for their knowledge of First Nations issues. The panel convened its first meeting on March 10, 2009 and held meetings as required until June 2009.

The department wrote directly to First Nations leaders to inform them of the department's intent to modernize these programs and to advise them of the information-sharing approach.

Public Opinion on the Indian Government Support Programs

Over the last few years, several public organizations have indicated that there is a need to update the Indian Government Support Programs. Since 2004, six resolutions have been passed by the Assembly of First Nations declaring its interest in engaging with AANDC to address concerns over the design and funding of the Indian Government Support programs. These resolutions have highlighted their support for the role of tribal councils, but have noted specific problems with band representative funding and elections funding which impact other core programming, and have advocated "the review of funding formula to assess the ability of existing mechanisms to meet the needs of the First Nations communities."

The redesign of the Indian Government Support programs was initiated to address these issues as well as others raised in published program evaluations. The current Band Support Funding and Tribal Council Funding formulae were to be modernized and simplified to become better aligned with the population, program-delivery and geographic realities of each community. The objective of providing core funding to tribal councils was to be clarified. In addition, a governance capacity assessment tool was introduced to enable band councils to demonstrate that they have the requisite tools for good governance and to support them in identifying the areas of governance that they wish to further strengthen in their communities.

Additional Information:

• The Information Sharing Process
  
  
• Schedule for Information Sharing on the Redesign of the Indian Government Support Programs
  
  
• An Overview of the Indian Government Support Policy Proposal
  
  
• Presentation to Tribal Council Administrators on the Redesign of the Tribal Council Funding Program
  
  
• Advisory Panel