10-Year Grant Eligibility Criteria - Video Transcript

Good afternoon and welcome to this webinar on 10-year Grants.

My name is Harold Calla, I'm a member of the Squamish Nation and the Executive Chair of the First Nations Financial Management Board.

The opportunity for 10-year Grants arises from the work of the AFN Chiefs Committee on fiscal relations and the exploratory tables that were established as a result of that process.

The 10-year grant program is seen as an essential element of a new fiscal relationship.

In the fall of 2017, the Financial Management Board accepted the invitation to support the development of 10-year Grants and that's why we're here today.

This is an opportunity in this webinar and for those who expressed interest in these grants to begin the process of determining their eligibility, and to begin the process of engagement with Canada AFN under the form and content of a grant contribution.

Good afternoon, my name is Shayla Point, I'm a member of the Musqueam Indian Band.

I work as the Director of Market Development, Financial Administration Laws, and Stakeholder Relations at the First Nations Financial Management Board, also known as FMB.

We are excited with this opportunity to support First Nations in the 10-year Grant application process.

Many of you may have already attended information sessions across Canada about the 10-year grant, the purpose of today's webinar is to set out the next steps and how your Nation can move down a pathway to eligibility.

There are two pathways for eligibility and we'd like to hear from every First Nation who's expressed interest on which pathway they'd like to select.

That is the purpose of this webinar, to hear from you, your Nations on which pathway to take.

So what's gonna happen next is we're gonna have a PowerPoint presentation.

Now if you're viewing this live on the webinar, you'll have the opportunity to ask your questions.

There's a dialog box, please feel free to type in your questions at the end of the PowerPoint presentation, we will address your questions as best we can.

Keep in mind the purpose again of this webinar is to talk about the eligibility criteria.

FMB has been engaged in the process of reviewing eligibility criteria and making recommendations on who is eligible.

However questions related to the form and content, what's in the grant, what's not in the grant, those are better addressed by Indigenous Services Canada, and we will definitely take down those questions and get back to you with responses.

So let's now move to the PowerPoint presentation. Things that we're gonna discuss today, many of you know who FMB is, but we're gonna give a background history on who FMB is.

Also we'll discuss the First Nations Fiscal Management Act and the rationale for  FMB's involvement in the 10-year Grant process.

Finally what everybody wants to know, those eligibility criteria, what are the next steps for your nation to be eligible for these grants.

And we'll touch on FMB's Capacity Development services as well.

So the Financial Management Board is a non-profit First Nations institution.

It supports First Nations through building strong governance and finance practices.

We are independent of the crown, but we are accountable to Parliament through Indigenous Services Canada.

Herald Calla, who you met earlier has been the Executive Chair since its inception, and he was appointed by Governor and Council. We have many board members, majority of them are appointed by Governor and Council, but there's up to three that are appointed by the Aboriginal Financial Officers Association.

But what's important to note is that FMB was created by the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, so that's also referred to as the FMA.

So the next question then is well, what is the FMA?

It's optional legislation.

It's optional because it's outside of the Indian Act, so it only applies to those First Nations who have sent in a Council Resolution to request that they can participate under that legislation.

We have over 229 First Nations participating, with several First Nations who have already submitted their request to participate, so that's a large number.

The Fiscal Management Act was created as a First Nations led initiative.

It was created to support First Nation social and economic development.

The Indian Act, since its inception, has prevented First Nations from using our lands as security, so what does that mean?

It means that First Nations have not been able to participate in the economic mainstream on a leveled playing field.

It means that First Nations when they want to do economic development and go to the bank, often times have had to pay up to 10 times more than if the development was off the reserve.

So First Nations wanted to find a way to level the playing field.

We wanted to leverage our revenue streams like any other levels of government.

So being a First Nations led initiative, the FMA is seen to promote social and economic development because it allows access to the First Nations Finance Authority, another institution created under the FMA.

That's the only legislation in Canada that allows First Nations to leverage their revenues like other levels of government.

In order to access the First Nations Finance Authority, a First Nation must first come work with the Financial Management Board, so the FMA.

Again, the takeaway is that it's optional, and if your Nation wishes to participate, it must submit a Council Resolution stating that it wishes to participate in this legislation because it is outside of the Indian Act.

So turning to FMB's involvement in 10-year Grant funding.

As a First Nations institution, our purpose has been to establish standards for finance and governance best practices.

As you heard earlier, we have several First Nations that are working with us, and all of those First Nations who have a Financial Administration Law under the Fiscal Management Act have met standards that are based on internationally recognized internal control frameworks.

The Board establishes standards as a high watermark for First Nations for finance and governance best practices.

Of course they didn't pull those standards out of thin air.

It took a long time searching high and low between existing frameworks like the COSO framework, the ISO framework, First Nations best practices.

And what the Board has established is this framework with internal controls that we think every First Nation in Canada can turn to as a high watermark.

These standards have been vetted by rating agencies and they determine First Nations eligibility to borrow from the capital markets.

The Indigenous Services Canada Minister released a statement regarding the 10-year Grant funding in December 2017.

Of course, being very familiar with FMB's framework and FMB's success with many First Nations across the country, it was natural that they spoke to the Assembly of First Nations and so the Assembly of First Nations and Indigenous Services Canada agreed to invite FMB to co-develop eligibility criteria built on FMB's existing standards.

So what will FMB do and how can the FMB support your Nation with regards to the 10-year Grant?


Well, we've created the eligibility criteria based on our existing framework, so that means that FMB can support your Nation during the funding application process.

FMB will evaluate First Nations against eligibility criteria and provide assessment reports.

It's very important to understand that it is not the Financial Management Board that makes final decisions on grant eligibility.

That decision rests solely with Indigenous Services Canada.

FMB will however provide Capacity Development services at no cost to First Nations in order to in order for them to go through the application process.

Now this is the exciting slide, and this is the slide that we'll spend the majority of our time on, and I'm hoping that your questions are related to this particular slide.

It speaks to the two pathways to 10-year Grant funding.

Now your First Nation may already be participating under the First Nations Fiscal Management Act, and if you are, then you're obviously going to go through the pathway with the red box here, the First Nations Fiscal Management Act.

So if you're a participating Nation and your name appears on the list of the schedule to the Fiscal Management Act, you will choose pathway 1.

That means you will develop a Financial Administration Law under the Fiscal Management Act or maybe you already have one. Once you meet those standards for eligibility, there will also be a requirement to review five years of audited financial statements against various financial performance measures and we'll speak to those as well.

So those steps are important you'll see that if you already have a Financial Administration Law.

You may need to update that law, and the small amendment will be required to your existing law to ensure that you're meeting the eligibility criteria.

Those amendments are not substantive in nature, and FMB will provide Nations that already have a law with a draft amendment, and walk them through that process to ensure that they're meeting eligibility criteria.

If you are a Nation that has your name on the Fiscal Management Act but has not yet done a Financial Administration Law, we urge you to contact our office at your earliest opportunity to arrange a presentation in your community.

You'll see that the date here, no later than November 1st 2018 as a deadline to ensure that you have your law signed off by Chief and Council and approved by the Financial Management Board.

That's an important deadline.

Now going to the Indian Act, the second pathway.

If you're a First Nation that is has not yet made a decision, so your name is not appearing on the Fiscal Management Act as a participating Nation, you're still operating under the Indian Act.

You have a choice, and the choice is yours.

You can pass a Council Resolution to opt into the Fiscal Management Act or you can remain under the Indian Act.

Both of these pathways are viable pathways.

If you choose to remain under the Indian Act, then what you would require is something called a Financial Administration Bylaw.

So that's the difference between the  FAL under the Fiscal Management Act and the FAB Financial Administration Bylaw under the Indian Act.

Again, the deadline is the same. You'd have to have a Financial Administration Bylaw signed off by your Chief and Council and issued a compliance opinion from the Financial Management Board no later than November 1st 2018.

Now the big question is this, what is the difference between the FAL and the FAB?

This is one of the major questions that keeps coming up.

Now you understand that they both come from different authorities.

The FAL comes from the Fiscal Management Act and the FAB comes from the Indian Act, but for the purposes of 10-year Grant eligibility, the AFN, ISC and FMB have all sat around a table and decided that the same standards must be met regardless if you're operating under the Fiscal Management Act or the Indian Act.

The goal is to treat Nations the same across Canada regardless of which pathway they're electing.

So you'll find a sample Financial Administration Bylaw posted on the FMB website for download.

If you could compare that to the temp sample Financial Administration Law under the Fiscal Management Act, you'll see that these documents are nearly identical.

There are differences. First Nations that operate under the Indian Act do not have the ability to go and borrow from the First Nations Finance Authority.

That means all references to borrowing through the FNFA or the FMB, the Finance Authority or the Tax Commission have been removed but the majority of the standards are the same.

So again, the deadline to complete either a FAL or a FAB is no later than November 1st 2018.

And either pathway you see it converges to the the triangle box they're called Financial Performance review, and again the review is the same no matter which pathway you're going under.

FMB's staff will review your five years of audited financial statements and weigh those against Financial Performance ratios.

We do the work for you. What you need to do is submit to us the copies of your signed audited financial statements from the past five years, and we will let you know if you're passing those ratios.

It's different than a Financial Performance Certification.

For those clients that already have either a law, have a Financial Administration Law from us, and a certification, please note that this is different.

The Financial Administration Law that you have will need to be amended to meet the 10-year grant eligibility criteria, and just because you have a Financial Performance Certificate, doesn't mean that you're eligible.

You need to submit your most recent five years audited financial statements.

Of course the FMB is under tight timeframe to get this all done.

As you know the minister announced that they're hoping to have these 10- year grants ready for April 1st 2019, so this work needs to be done in the fall.

You need a FAL or a FAB no later than November 1st 2018, and then FMB will be providing assessments and reports of eligibility before December 14th.

Now rest assured if your Nation, if this time frame is too tight for your Nation, or if it just seems like too much work to do in this short time period, this is not the only opportunity for ten-year grants.

Each year there will be another opportunity.

So the first year is April 1st 2019, but you'll have another chance in April 2020.

So please do get started on this work right away if you're hoping to be involved in next year's round, but otherwise you can work at your own pace and apply for the 10-year grant to the later year.

And again, ultimately the decision for eligibility rests with Indigenous Services Canada.

FMB is only providing assessment and reports on eligibility for the 10-year Grant funding.

So turning again to Financial Administration Laws.

If your Nation is scheduled to the Fiscal Management Act but does not yet have a law, please contact us at your earliest opportunity and we will arrange a presentation to go through the Financial Administration Law with your Chief and Counsel at a high level.

We also have funding to help offset independent legal advice that your Nation may wish to take in review of our sample Financial Administration Law.

If your First Nation already has a law again, there'll be an amendment that's required and we will be sending those draft amendments to you by the end of this week for your review and consideration.

The deadline to do a Financial Administration Law or the amendment to your Financial Administration Law is November 1st 2018.

Now back to the Financial Administration Bylaws.

The FABs, same thing. So your Nation is not scheduled to the Fiscal Management Act and you have chosen to stay in the Indian Act, absolutely fine.

FMB will still support your Nation.

We have a sample Financial Administration Bylaw, and you can download that from our website and we're happy to answer questions about that document and to assist your First Nation through the development of a Financial Administration Bylaw.

It used to be the First Nations Tax Commission that provided advice to the Minister on compliance approvals of FABs and recently it's been determined that the Financial Management Board will now take over that function.

So I reiterate, regardless of whether your First Nation wants to do a FAL, an FAL, Financial Administration Law under the Fiscal Management Act or a Financial Administration Bylaw, FMB will support your Nation in either case to ensure that you're meeting eligibility criteria.

And again the same deadlines apply if you don't yet have a Financial Administration Bylaw, you'll need to do so before November 1st 2018 to be eligible for the April 1st 2019 round.

Now what if your First Nation has an existing bylaw?

An existing bylaw under the Indian Act.

Well it may not meet, or it's likely not to meet the grant eligibility criteria, so what should you do? You can submit your Financial Administration Bylaw to FMB for our review and consideration.

We may provide feedback where you'll have to do some amendments to your law.

You may be in a position where you need to repeal your entire bylaw and replace it with the sample bylaw that we provide.

But let's meet, let's have a phone call, and let's discuss what that looks like because eligibility you hear is going to be different for each First Nation depending on the circumstance that your nation is in. Now the exciting part.

So the evaluation of Financial Performance.

I always tell everybody I'm just a lawyer by training, but here we go, let's talk about Financial Performance ratios.

Trust me, it's not me that's calculating the ratios. We have qualified accountants in our office and there's many of them.

So they will calculate the ratios based on your five years audited financial statements for the years 2014 to 2018.

FMB will take steps to fully understand the financial results and any unique factors impacting the ratios.

You must provide a contact information for somebody that FMB can contact with questions.

There's always a story behind the numbers, and so they may need to ask questions.

And because we're under a tight time frame, it's important that you provide who is the best person to contact with those questions so we can ensure that you're meeting the eligibility criteria.

Again FMB's role in this regard is to provide an assessment report on whether the First Nation is meeting those Financial Performance ratios.

So what are those ratios? There's five. There's five ratios.

The first being the Fiscal Growth Ratio, the second being the Operating Margin Ratio, third being the Asset Maintenance Ratio, fourth being the Net Debt Ratio, and fifth the Interest Expense Ratio.

Now this information is all available also on the FMB website, you can go to www.fnfmb.com and see the thresholds that need to be met in order to pass each ratio.

So the first Fiscal Growth Ratio measures the First Nation's ability to sustain and grow its revenues.

And the best thing to do, I mean is to submit your financial statements.

You might think that you're not passing, but submit your ratio submit your financial statements and let us tell you, let us give you feedback on if you're passing or not.

The second, the Operating Margin Ratio measures the First Nation's ability to balance its revenues and expenses to maintain operations.

Our Asset Maintenance Ratio assesses of a First Nation is investing enough to maintain its capital assets and to add new assets.

The Net Debt Ratio measures a First Nations ability to manage its overall level of debt.

And finally the Interest Expense Ratio measures the First Nations ability to manage the interest payments on its debt.

Some of you some of our existing clients may note that the Liquidity Ratio that was once ratio is not here.

That was recently removed by our board members, and that analysis is also available on our website.

But again the biggest message for me to deliver to you today is if you're at all interested in the 10-year grants, please submit your five years audited financial statements as soon as possible, as soon as they're ready.

I know I think the deadline has passed, it's been 120 days after fiscal year-end already.

So by all means, get those to us at your earliest opportunity so we can provide some assessment and ask those important questions that need to be asked.

So this next slide is a summary on grant eligibility.

The viewers today of this webinar, I'm assuming most of you have already submitted your letter of expression.

The deadline was July 13th 2018, so many of you have done that and thank you.

We did receive over two hundred and thirty eight letters of expression of interest, so I've not yet taken my summer holiday.

But the good news is, it was a bit of a soft deadline, so for those First Nations who are still interested who haven't sent in the letter, send in your letter.
We can't promise that we're gonna process all of the applications, but we're certainly gonna do our best.

So if you haven't submitted a letter of expression, please do so.

You can visit our website at fnfmb.com and and find the 10years@fnfmb.com link and you can submit your letter of interest there.

But now for step two, the important part of this webinar is for those First Nations who have already expressed interest we need to hear from you now.

Which pathway are you going to select? Are you going to select to stay under the Indian Act?

Or are you going to pass a Council Resolution and opt into the Fiscal Management Act?

If you're choosing to opt into the Fiscal Management Act, you need to submit that Council Resolution as soon as possible because the timeframes are so tight here, there is a small delay in having your name officially added to the schedule, so we encourage you submit that council resolution now.

First Nations who opt into the Fiscal Management Act can opt out if they are not yet a borrowing member of the Finance Authority.

I think there may be only one First Nation that has ever opted out of the Fiscal Management Act.

The services that FMB provides are exceptional, they're at no cost, and they provide First Nations with support in building capacity and finance and governance best practices.

So it's a good way to go through the Fiscal Management Act because we provide these services at no cost, and it's the only pathway that allows you access to
affordable long term capital if you pass Financial Performance ratios through the First Nations Finance Authority.

So now that you've decided which pathway you've selected, the next step is to either develop your Financial Administration Bylaw or to develop your Financial Administration Law.

Start this process now!

I encourage you to contact our office.

You can phone us at our office at 604-925-6665 or you can email us at the 10years@fnfmb.com and let's set up a telephone discussion, a video conference, maybe an in-person discussion on the differences between those templates, the FAL or the FAB.

Send us your audited financial statements as soon as possible, and that way FMB can support your nation in eligibility for the 10-year grant.

Well, we're doing this quite quickly we're already near the last slide here.

It's good we're saving lots of time for questions.

FMB has an entire business line dedicated to capacity development.

So after a First Nation has signed its Financial Administration Law or it's bylaw, it's time to bring those documents to life.

It's one thing to sign a law or a bylaw, it's another thing to implement it.

And FMB's role is to support First Nation to bring these laws to life.

This means putting the good governance and finance practices described in the FAL or the FAB to work for your community.

So we have what we call an army of accountants.

They're actually called our Capacity Development Managers that are assigned specifically to Nations to support them.

They deliver workshops, tutorials, webinars, all at no cost for your Nation to bring life to your Financial Administration Law or your bylaw.

It helps strengthen community members confidence in your Nation.

Having one of these documents, I can say provides good governance, right?

So regardless if your Nation even ends up signing up for a 10-year grant, there's so much benefit to working with FMB because there's good governance that is set out, and the practices that are set out in both of these documents.

They can support your First Nations for generations to come.

It's best to have documented policies and procedures so that when a council member or staff member walks out the door, and maybe they're not elected, or maybe they're not coming back.

But the next person can assume their responsibilities in a governance way.

The Financial Administration Law also has something called a Finance and Audit Committee.

As the Financial Administration Law that moves Nations away from personality based decision to process based decision making, and so it allows for First Nations to plan for generations to come.

So we've talked about the no-cost services, we've talked about webinars, videos, templates, and tools.

Our website has a wealth of information and I encourage you to go to our website.

All of our materials are available for download at no cost . Excuse me.

Now it's important to note that Financial Management System Certification, our existing clients will know that process well.

It is not a requirement for grant eligibility.

Only a First Nation must pass a Financial Administration Law or Bylaw and do the Financial Performance review.

So those existing clients that we have out there, we do encourage you to continue working on your Financial Management System Certification, but it's not a requirement for 10-year grants.

So that was a lot of information,but as I said, many of you had probably heard this before from information sessions across Canada.

We are excited now to hear about any questions that you may have, so we can answer them live for you. And again, if we can't answer the question for you because it's a question better answered by Indigenous Services Canada.

We'll still take your question down and let you know.

So let's turn to the questions.

All right, so we do have a question from HcoM Secretariat and the question is does the criteria address First Nations that are under third party management?

Yes it does.

You are not excluded because you're in third party management from consideration for grant eligibility, however the standards remain the same.

And the next question is from Doris Fraser: will the 10-year grants be excluded from any of our claw-backs?

Well so maybe I should just explain again what I could have said in the beginning, is what is the 10-year grant?

The 10-year grant is a funding mechanism only, and it has what I've heard three things to it.

It has improved flexibility, improved predictability of funding, and less reporting.

So Harold maybe you can talk about the flexibility in these clawbacks that they refer to as March Madness.

Well I think you've already heard the Minister make announcement that there's no longer a requirement to send back the money.

I know many First Nations have participated in various longer-term funding arrangements and have experienced the at the conclusion of the term of those arrangements, that the levels of funding have changed.

I think those are matters that we have been assured will not happen in 10-year grants, but there are also matters that are going to have to be confirmed in the form of content of grant contribution agreements.

And there's a question from the audience: what is the difference between Financial Administration Law and Financial Administration Bylaw?

Well so those are the two pathways for eligibility and the Financial Administration Law, the FAL, excuse me, is the only is the only law that would provide you a pathway to what we call certification and borrowing through the First Nations Finance Authority.

The Financial Administration Bylaw is made under the Indian Act, and for grant eligibility the standards are nearly identical.

They mirror each other, except for the requirements for borrowing or any intervention powers that the FMB may have.

So for grant eligibility, the two documents are nearly identical and they meet the same standards, okay?

But if you have a Financial Administration Bylaw you cannot use that by law to seek certification from FMB and borrow from the Finance Authority.

I think it's also important to realize that you can transition post eligibility determination from a FAB to a FAL at any time.

And another question from Doris Fraser: will there be rep. assigned from the FMB to work with their file with the First Nations file? Will there be an FMB
rep. that would work with the First Nations community on their file if they're interested in their 10-year grant?

Right, so if the First Nation is already, is it Dolores?

It is Doris Fraser. Doris Fraser, if your Nation has submitted a letter of expression of interest, that's fantastic!

We would have received a copy of it and the next step is to determine where in the pathway your Nation is so you can send us an email at 10years@fnfmb.com or simply give us a call and we'll decide what stage your community is at and what the next step is.

If you haven't expressed a letter of interest yet we encourage you to do so.

Same person, Doris Fraser, what will be the dollar amounts be based on?

The funding levels for the 10-year Grant, Harold.

At this point what we've been told is that there's no funding increases in 10-year grants.

Proposal bases funding will remain for the time being, but let's remember that there were substantial amounts of money in the last two federal budgets that are going to start to roll out this year, so we do expect to see some changes.

But part of the opportunity the 10-year Grants provide is that as this new fiscal relationship is developed and as the sustainability issues get dealt with, you'll be able to use the 10-year grant mechanism, and the flexibility it provides, and the assurances that will come from the discussions around the form of content to ensure that you're able to retain the amounts that you expect to get under the program.

And Doris Fraser once again, do we need to opt in to the FMB to apply for the 10-year Grant?

You don't have to opt into the FMB. You're opting into the standards.

The Financial Management Board has been asked and we'll be providing the advice to the Minister on whether or not eligibility criteria has been met.

So FMB will support a Nation if they want to work under the Fiscal Management Act and do a FAL or if they want to stay under the Indian Act and do a Financial Administration Bylaw.

FMB will support First Nations on either pathway. We just need, that let us know Doris, which pathway your Nation wishes to choose, and we will support your Nation through the application process for the 10-year grants.

And Janice Willier: how does the First Nations improve their ratios in order to be eligible for the next fiscal year?

Well, through prudent financial management, and we realized there are going to be some challenges for some communities who might not meet Financial Performance ratios today.

There is no shortcut to being able to make that, short of winning in the lottery, I suppose, but specific claims or some other windfall.

But I think the place to start is developing your law, developing that process based decision making model, so that you can eventually dig yourself out of a hole if you find yourself in one.

And I'll just add the Director of Standards and Certification runs a team.

So again, don't be afraid if you're not passing.

Not all First Nations passed the ratios on their first try.

We've had many clients that have enacted a law and didn't pass the Financial Performance ratios the first year, but came back to us a year later or two years later because it's a new set of five years and have gone on to pass.

Because the capacity development support that our clients get at FMB helped them bring life to their law and improve their systems of finance and governance practices within the four corners of their law, and that over time may lead to passing those Financial Performance ratios.

But submit those statements and our staff in the Capacity or in the Standards and Certification team can provide feedback on which ratios you may not have met certain thresholds on.

All right from Doris Fraser: if there are future changes to funding formulas, well the 10-year grant bands be included? Yes.

So that's the discussion on escalators.

Many of the questions came up in the information sessions about the 2% cap and the 2-year cap.

The AFN and ISC are still talking and engaging with the board at FMB on what is the decision of escalators look like.

And of course, if you qualify for the 10 year grant program for April 2019, those will be built in.

Escalators, proposal based funding is still outside of the grant at this time, but it's just a starting point and they do expect to add things to the grant as time goes on.

I think that those communities should participate the grant program, have a great opportunity to support the Chiefs Committee on fiscal relations in the work they're doing at these exploratory tables, and discussing some of these issues.

And I think it's going to be important for all of us to be aware and support those initiatives on a go-forward basis.

And a question from the audience I guess.

There has been some controversy with the 10-year Grant with First Nations out there, how would you debunk any controversy?

Well I I believe it's necessary to take advantage of the opportunities that appear to be coming before us as a result of this current government, and as a result of the statements that the Minister has been making.

I think that there is a process that has begun through the AFN and the Government of Canada in a co-development model that certainly 10-year Grants, it's a part of, but certainly not all encompassing, so I think the opportunity is going to be there for us to engage in the development of this new relationship through these kinds of initiatives, and I think that's how it has to be viewed.

And why choose the FMB? Well I would choose the FMB if I were in a community because I think the opportunity in the future is going to be there for us to exercise greater fiscal powers, and to have the opportunity to leverage the revenue streams that are created through those new fiscal powers to support the Community Development that we have.

And I think that's going to be absolutely critically important.

The rating agencies and investment markets have now recognized the Fiscal Management Act as a viable vehicle for people to invest in and for us to access capital to support our community's development needs.

I think that we have relied far too long on the dependency on federal transfers to exclusively provide for the needs of our community, and I think we're going to have the opportunity in the future to gain access to revenue streams that other orders that government currently take for granted, and to be able to use those revenue streams to support our community's needs.

And  I'll also chime in why choose the FMB.

Our organization was created under the Fiscal Management Act, the Fiscal Management Act came into force in 2006, FMB became operational about 2009.

We are a First Nations led initiative our standards provide transparency and accountability.

So if I'm a First Nations member, I would like to look at my Chief and Council and say how are you operating?

The fiduciary responsibility for Chief and Council is a strong one and having an independent third party like the Financial Management Board to review the financial statements of your Nation and provide feedback to provide a health check, or a financial performance review, report card if you will, provides that transparency and accountability.

Our services are at no cost, and if you are a Nation that's on the fence and wondering about FMB, I strongly encourage you to take a look at our existing clients.

If you go to our website, you'll see a map of Canada.

We have over 148 First Nations in Canada who have a Financial Administration Law based on our standards.

Many of those First Nations have been able to also achieve Financial Performance Certification which is separate from the grant, but they use that certification to go and borrow affordable long term capital from the First Nations Finance Authority, and borrowing money on your own terms as a Nation allows you to take take your nation's future in your own hands.

The federal government you know has a set amount of money to build a school, to fix your roads, to do a Health Center.

The Nations that have borrowed from the Finance Authority have borrowed, what is it half a billion dollars in improving the social and economic well-being of their own people.

They're tired of the Indian Act and tired of waiting for money from the federal government where the pot just keeps getting bit smaller, and they're taking matters into their own hand, building their own schools, fixing their own roads, and really the communities are flourishing.

If you go to our FMB website, you'll see many of the nations we've profiled, and the success stories that they've had in in taking control of their Nation and of the wealth of their nation.

Question from the audience: how long will it take for a First Nation community to get their Financial Administration Law or Financial Administration Bylaw?
Great question.

So if your community has expressed interest in the 10-year grant but you do not yet have a FAL or a FAB, there is still time to qualify, but again, please tell us which pathway you're choosing, so we can provide you with the correct template.

Your community may have something called a law enactment process, and we highly encourage you to follow that process.

But the Chief and Council of a community have the authority to enter into this agreement.

Some communities have done this in a matter of two weeks by reviewing the Financial Administration Laws, other communities have taken five six years.

It really depends on the appetite of the First Nation Chief and Council and their ability to review the Financial Administration Law template, and be comfortable with it.

Many times they take recommendations from their senior staff.

But again it's the First Nation's time frame.

We don't want, FMB does not want to be seen to be saying you need to do this quickly.

It's the First Nations time frame, and it is a close window for eligibility for 10-year grant eligibility for this year, and if those First Nations who are ready to move, let us know, we will provide them the support they need.

If First Nations want to take more time on the law, again we will support them in the longer process and they can apply again the next year.

And finally even if you're not interested in the 10-year grant, you find out more information as more information becomes available.

Encourage you to still work with FMB because we provide capacity development services at no cost to help improve your Nation's finance and governance practices.

And from Janice Willier: will you be visiting First Nation regions that would like further information? Time is
pretty tight.

Well, Janice, I don't know which community you're from, but again if you send the name of your community to 10years@fnfmb.com and send some Chief and Council meeting dates, we will do our best to provide a presentation to your Chief and Council.

We do like to present at duly called meetings and we do only attend communities when we're invited.

So do send us an email and invite us to your community with some proposed dates for Chief and Council meetings.

I think one of the things that we're going to be assessing over the next days and weeks is the demand for regional  presentations and to be engaged in a conversation with the department around providing the opportunity for that to happen.

We did a lot of that leading up to the letter of cooperation deadlines, or expression of interest deadlines, and we may have to do some more of that to discuss development of the FALs or FABs and to discuss the form and content of the grant.

So stay tuned there'll be more to come, we now know how to contact everybody and you're going to see, I expect over the next number of months, a flurry of emails and communications from both ourselves AFN and ISC around the development of this program.

And is this 10-year Grant have an increase in or is it just another funding mechanism?

Well, at the moment it is an alternative funding arrangement to grant contributions, or to contribution agreements.

So that you get 10-year funding and get more flexibility.

I think it's going to be up to all of us to ensure that the ability of the grant program to go in terms of its absolute number of dollars available.

The First Nation to respond to the comparability gap is something that we all have to support and support the AFN, particularly the Chiefs Committee on fiscal and trying to achieve.

There's no guarantee in any of this at this moment.

I can't guarantee any of it. I see it as I know the best-case alternative to what we have today, which is not meeting our needs by a long shot.

And why should a First Nation community choose between their grants?

I think you should choose 10-year grants to get certainty over 10 year funding, allow long-term planning, develop an administrative financial capacity that you might not already have, and to prepare yourself for the future that's coming your way.

Many communities not but ten years ago, did not see much economic development opportunity in their regions, particularly northern, that is all changed now.

And I think the one thing that we all need to do is to prepare ourselves to manage wealth, not the poverty we find ourselves in today because the economic opportunities are gonna come our way.

And that's all the questions we have.

Do you have anything you'd like to add, Shayla or Harold?

Well, I would like to thank everybody who responded.

I think it's important that we demonstrate that we have an First Nation interest in something broader than the status quo.

I appreciate that our expression of interest comes with some uncertainty around it, but it's only going to be through your engagement and the process that you're prepared to commit to that we will find answers to many of the questions that not answerable today.

So I encourage you to continue in your support of this process, to support the AFN Chiefs Committee and this work that they're undertaking, continue to be aware of it, and to develop your community plans, prepare for the wealth that's going to come your way, and be successful in achieving your community goals.
And then finally I'll add we did note there's 238 expressions of interest, there is a limited time period, so what I'd like the one message people to take away today is if you've expressed your interest and you're not a participating Nation on the Fiscal Management Act, there's about 83 of you out there, I need to hear from each Nation which pathway you'd like to choose.

They're both viable pathways, but if you are wanting to opt into the Fiscal Management Act because you ultimately see the benefit in borrowing for a project from the Finance Authority, do that quickly. Contact my office if you have questions, I'm available on the number. It's 1-877-925-6665, or send us an email at 10years@fnfmb.com.

It is from Chief and Council Harold Leighton. The quote here, he says, when you actually join Financial Management Board to get their Financial Administration Law, Financial Performance Certificate and Financial Management Systems, this is what Metlakatla First Nation had to say.  

"The inherent right to self-government is more than enforcing Aboriginal rights and title; it is demonstrating leadership in sound financial governance built on a solid framework that promotes accountability and transparency, leading to increased confidence from membership, public, industry and economic partners.

Making informed decisions using the tools we gained from this process will ensure we remain on the same trajectory of success under unified vision that forecasts all the benefits and risks on our path."

Thank you very much for joining the FMB's webinar. If you didn't get any of your questions answered, please email your questions to 10years@fnfmb.com or visit fnfmb.com.

Please feel free to reach out to any of our FMB clients who've been through this process. You can find them on a list of the FMB's website.

Thanks and have a great day.