After a 120 day extension from the federal government, the final deadline for First Nations to submit their finances to the Canadian Government has arrived. The vast majority have already complied with only 55 out of 582 bands yet to file nationwide.
Starting tomorrow, the government may withhold funding for non-essential services of the bands that don’t comply. They could halt all funding if that is still the case on December 16th. Bands have been receiving formal reminders for the past for months since the date of the original deadline in August.
The Takla Lake Nation, who has an office in PG, is one of the few in BC that have not submitted their paper work. A controller with the band, Vivian, didn’t have much to say when questioned why they had missed the deadline saying “it just wasn’t ready for the auditor to come in, that’s all I can say”.
She added that “deadlines can be moved” and that they plan on making their finances public by Christmas.
Only a handful of bands located and Alberta Saskatchewan and Manitoba has declared that they will resist making their finances public.
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