Part 13 - Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement

Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement

251. The parties shall, prior to the ratification of this Agreement, prepare a Anishnaabe Government Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement.

Principles

252. The fiscal relationship between Canada and the First Nations and the United Anishnaabeg Councils shall be based on government-to-government transfers.
     
     
253. The funding for the First Nations shall be a shared responsibility of the parties and it is the shared objective of the parties that, where feasible and as set out in this Agreement, reliance by the First Nations on transfer payments shall be reduced over time.
     
     
254. The parties shall negotiate an Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement by which funding shall be provided to the First Nations and the United Anishnaabeg Councils in order to enable the provision of agreed-upon public services and programs to e-dbendaagzijig and, where applicable, persons who are not e-dbendaagzijig.
     
     
255. The Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement shall incorporate the principle of reasonably comparable levels of agreed-upon public services and programs prevailing in southern Ontario in jurisdictions with similar responsibilities.
     
     
256. The Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement shall reflect the principles of reasonable stability, predictability and flexibility.
     
     
257. The First Nations and United Anishnaabeg Councils shall have a system of financial administration that is comparable with standards generally accepted in Canada for public sector accountability through which the First Nation and United Anishnaabeg Councils governments shall be fiscally accountable to e-dbendaagzijig and, as appropriate, other governments.
     
     
258. The Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement shall be appended to, but shall not be part of this Agreement. For greater certainty, the Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement shall not be used to interpret this Agreement.
     
     
259. During the term of any Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement the United Anishnaabeg Councils and Canada shall consider the amendment of the Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement if decisions of courts or administrative tribunals impact upon the eligibility of recipients of programs and services funded under the terms of the Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement.
     
     

Matters to be taken into account

260. In negotiating Intergovernmental Transfer Agreements the parties shall take into account the following matters:
     
     
     1. the Purpose as set out in Part 2;
        
        
     2. financial resources necessary to establish First Nation and United Anishnaabeg Councils government institutions;
        
        
     3. financial resources necessary to operate First Nation and United Anishnaabeg Councils government institutions;
        
        
     4. population and demographic characteristics of persons receiving public services and benefits from the First Nation and United Anishnaabeg Councils governments;
        
        
     5. levels of support provided by other governments;
        
        
     6. necessary training requirements for the delivery of agreed-upon services and programs;
        
        
     7. the exercise of authorities, including law-making authorities, obligations, programs and services assumed, or to be assumed by the First Nation and United Anishnaabeg Councils governments, acknowledging that the recognition of any First Nation law-making authority in this Agreement does not in itself create or imply any financial obligations for any party;
        
        
     8. the First Nations own-source revenues and other resources available to it;
        
        
     9. the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement, including issues related to the size, location and accessibility of the First Nations; and
        
        
     10. to achieve appropriate program and service delivery capacity and economies of scale, a First Nation's delivery of agreed-upon public services and programs to levels comparable to those provided to other communities in southern Ontario may require the First Nations to enter into cooperative jurisdictional or program delivery arrangements with other governments.
         
         

Provisions Respecting the Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement

261. An Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement shall:
     
     
     1. be negotiated every five years or for such other periods of time as the parties may agree;
        
        
     2. be in the form of a contract;
        
        
     3. set out the annual funding levels;
        
        
     4. provide financial resources subject to terms and conditions that permit flexibility to allocate and reallocate;
        
        
     5. include provisions which enable the Minister to fulfill accountability requirements to Parliament with respect to federal transfers under the Agreement;
        
        
     and may consolidate federal program funding for the First Nations.
     
     
262. By mutual consent, during the term of an Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement the parties may enter into a new fiscal agreement based on new arrangements that may be developed.
     
     

Own-source Revenue Capacity

263. For the purposes of any Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement, own-source revenue capacity is the value of revenues that the First Nations can be expected to raise on a reasonably comparable basis with other governments given the revenue sources available to the First Nations.
     
     
264. Specific sources of own-source revenue capacity may be determined by the parties to be excluded from consideration for the purposes of determining the transfer payments.
     
     
265. Own-source revenue capacity shall not be considered in determining the transfer payments to the United Anishnaabeg Councils during the term of the first Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement, or for a period of five years, whichever is longer.
     
     
266. During the term of the first Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement, the parties shall negotiate the manner in which own-source revenue capacity shall be taken into account on a staged and incremental basis in determining transfer payments.
     
     
267. The measurement of own-source revenue capacity shall be cost effective.
     
     
268. Own-source revenue capacity shall be calculated in a manner that:
     
     
     1. considers the own-source revenue capacity of each First Nation;
        
        
     2. encourages the United Anishnaabeg Councils and First Nations to expand own-source revenue capacity;
        
        
     3. acknowledges and considers the own-source revenue contributed by the United Anishnaabeg Councils and the First Nations to the operations of government, including the delivery of programs and services, in the five fiscal years preceeding the second Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement; and
        
        
     4. ensures that the own-source revenue referred to in clause 268(c) shall not be considered in such a way as to reduce the overall level of funding provided through the Intergovernmental Transfer Agreements to the United Anishnaabeg Councils and the First Nations.
        
        
269. During negotiations referred to in clause 266, and by mutual consent the parties may base the negotiations on new federal policies that may be developed.
     
     
270. The determination, development and calculation of own-source revenue capacity, as it relates to the calculation of the transfer payments, and as it impacts on the Intergovernmental Transfer Agreement, shall be a joint exercise of the parties.