Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Okay. Thank you for having me here today. The restitution of land is a deeply important part of reconciliation. A strong connection to our land is part of the values that define who we are as indigenous people in Canada. According to a study released two months ago by the Environics Institute, 81% of Canadians see—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you. Thank you for the invitation to appear before you today. The restitution of land is a deeply important part of reconciliation. A strong connection to our land is part of the values that define who we are as indigenous people in Canada. According to a study released two months ago by the Environics Institute, 81% of Canadians see inadequate indigenous control over their lands and resources—

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Yes. He's described exactly what we're all looking for. It has taken five years to get to this point. It took three times for this legislation to be introduced originally to get it passed. We can't wait with that time frame anymore. These are non-partisan issues. They should get everyone's support.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  If I might, I want to talk about those communities that were in default management. Many of them were in third party management for as long as 20 or 25 years. They got involved with the financial management board. We entered into a pilot program with the department. We had some pilot project firms or communities that got themselves certified by the financial management board.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's Harold. Grant, I'm assuming that you're in the room. I'm going to punt this one to you.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for that question. We are undertaking a pilot project at the moment, which we're calling “support services”. It will address those issues, because what we experience, particularly in the default management program that has become so successful, is many northern or remote communities having difficulty attracting and retaining staff.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think that housing can play a major role in economic reconciliation, but it has to become more than a program. It has to become a business activity. If you're going to own a home, you generally have to care for it and pay for it, and that's difficult to do if you don't have an economy in your community.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's very much so. If program funding was going to work, it would have worked by now.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  It's Harold. If I may, I will start. I look at the legislation as a living piece of legislation. It's always going to be amended to reflect the current circumstances of the day. We've been working on these particular amendments for quite some time. Did we get everything we wanted?

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Thank you for the opportunity to be here today. As you said, my name is Harold Calla. I'm the executive chair of the First Nations Financial Management Board and a member of the Squamish nation. For those who don't know, I've been the executive chair of the First Nations Financial Management Board since its inception some 15 years ago.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I don't disagree with a sectoral approach, but I think we need to recognize that this council is going to have to establish a number of its own committees to engage more broadly across the country. I know that I keep reiterating and repeating myself, but this needs to be funded.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think you have to have elders' representation. I recall being in one of my community's meetings where we were asking our elders for some advice, and they turned to us and said, “That's why you're up there”, so we have to be careful what we put upon them. That's my only caution.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I think you have to invest in indigenous-led solutions. Government-led solutions haven't proven to be successful. If you were to look at the results of the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, at the 300 communities and the work that the financial management board has done even in communities that are in financial trouble, what you see is that bringing governance and administrative and fiscal capacity to those first nations has increased their own-source revenue and their index of well-being.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  Wow. I think the scope of what this council is able to do can't be limited. That's the first thing. It needs to go where the truth needs to be found. I think that the economic reality of the international community being unhappy with how our global economy has conducted itself over the last years has created a movement called ESG—environmental standards and governance.

Indigenous and Northern Affairs committee  I believe it can protect our rights. The council will have that opportunity. If it has government-wide access to information and data, it can bring that forward in ways we've not been able to do before, so I think it can help. It doesn't mean that the issues we have today don't require alternative measures to deal with those kinds of things, but, as I have said several times when I've come here before, whatever you do, you have to have a picture in your mind of what you want to see 20 years from now.