The long history and rich culture of Aboriginal people in Canada not only help define our national identity but also shape our social and economic well-being. Fostering good government and strong accountability in Aboriginal communities helps to increase investor confidence, support economic partnerships and improve living conditions.

Self-government agreements are one means of building sound governance and institutional capacity that allow Aboriginal communities to contribute to, and participate in, the decisions that affect their lives and carry out effective relationships with other governments. They also provide greater certainty over rights to natural resources, contributing to a more positive investment climate and creating greater potential for economic development, jobs and growth.

Canada has completed 17 self-government agreements involving 36 communities. These include 15 self-government agreements completed in conjunction with comprehensive land claims in Labrador, Quebec, British Columbia, Yukon and NWT, as well as two stand-alone self-government agreements with the Sechelt and Westbank First Nations in BC.

Fast Facts

• To date, Canada has completed 17 self-government agreements involving 36 communities.
  
  
• Currently, some 384 Aboriginal communities are represented at 80 negotiations tables at various stages of negotiations.

Pace of progress

New governance arrangements support the achievement of “good governance” – governance that is participatory, accountable, responsive, efficient and effective, transparent and that operates by the rule of law. Research demonstrates that good governance is a critical component of achieving individual and community well-being.

For self-government agreements to be workable, they need to address, among other things, the structure of the new government and its relationship with other governments, new fiscal arrangements, the relationship of laws between jurisdictions, program and service delivery, and implementation planning.

In addition to these challenges, in many cases, self-government arrangements are negotiated in conjunction with comprehensive claims, raising additional issues which may act as impediments to reaching final agreements.

Accountability

Self-government agreements establish Aboriginal governments that are primarily responsible to their citizens, as well as a government-to-government relationship between the Aboriginal and federal governments. Both of these relationships contain accountability implications which must be addressed.

Agreements must address the need to strengthen key elements of operations, including fiscal and management regimes. They must also promote governance systems with the capacity, size, resources and legitimacy to provide effective governance, positioning Aboriginal communities to pursue opportunities for economic development.

While much has been done to ensure self-government agreement provisions address these fundamental needs, the Government of Canada acknowledges it must work harder with First Nations to fully implement the vision set out in self-government agreements.