Notice
This website will change as a result of the dissolution of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Consult the new Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada home page or the new Indigenous Services Canada home page.
This website will change as a result of the dissolution of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Consult the new Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada home page or the new Indigenous Services Canada home page.
To find the governance tools that will be most useful, a community can first identify its strengths and flag the capacity gaps it wishes to correct. A number of self-assessment tools exist. The tools available through Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada and the British Columbia Assembly of First Nations are directly relevant to First Nations:
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
British Columbia Assembly of First Nations
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
International Development Research Centre
Global Development Research Center
McKinsey and Company
Suggest a new governance tool.
First Nations perform functions common to all governments. These have been described in different ways by organizations such as the United Nations (PDF) and the Institute on Governance. Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada provides funding and concrete help to First Nations communities interested in improving their governance systems. The department therefore uses a practical definition of governance which focuses on activities within ten core functions:
Here are some tools to help communities in each of these areas. Funding is also available through the Professional and Institutional Development Program when a community needs help that is not available through existing resources.
Leadership activities involve the fair and open leadership selection of government leaders, transparent compensation for their work, meetings of council, and the accountability of these leaders for government operations. Examples include leadership selection and election codes and processes, defining the roles and responsibilities of chiefs and councillors, and the government's policy-making processes.
Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Institute on Governance
Justice Canada
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Membership activities involve recognizing those individuals who are formal members of First Nation communities. Activities include developing and applying policies which decide who is a member, registering individuals, and maintaining membership lists.
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
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Law-Making activities apply the legal powers of a First Nation such as through bylaws. Activities include drafting proposed community laws, passing and amending bylaws through meetings of council, and recording and making these laws public.
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Justice Canada
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Community Involvement activities allow First Nation members to participate in government decision-making and to stay informed. This is often done by applying policies and tools for communicating with band members and by offering community consultations, appeal mechanisms, and dispute resolution measures.
First Nations in British Columbia Portal
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
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External Relations involve the interaction of the community administration with other government organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector. Activities include participating in intergovernmental forums and public-service professional associations and communicating with other governments and the broader Canadian public. Establishing and maintaining relationships with stakeholders can facilitate other important processes such discussions on land claims, resource rights, funding transfers, and public-private partnerships.
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
Suggest a new governance tool.
Planning and Risk Management activities allow the First Nation government to organize, oversee, and report on its programs, to foster continuous improvement, and to plan ahead. This function includes ensuring services support a broader vision, identifying and mitigating risks, strategic planning, community planning, planning for capacity development, and monitoring, evaluating and reporting on program performance.
Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada
British Columbia Assembly of First Nations
First Nations in British Columbia Portal
First Nations Emergency Services Society
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
International Development Research Centre (Ottawa),
Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat
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Financial Management entails planning, managing, and monitoring assets, liabilities, revenues and expenditures. Activities include setting financial policies, developing budgets, tracking financial transactions, completing and communicating audited financial statements, collecting revenues, and tendering and awarding contracts.
Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada
First Nations in British Columbia Portal
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
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Human Resources Management includes activities which hire, retain, and compensate the skilled people needed to meet the First Nation government's goals. This function includes developing policies (such as hiring processes, codes of ethics, and conflict of interest guidelines,) developing job descriptions, supporting volunteers, recruiting staff, organizing training, and administering salaries and benefits.
British Columbia First Nations Public Service Initiative
First Nations in British Columbia Portal
Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada
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Information Management and Information Technology activities manage the data systems and maintain the business practices which ensure that administrators and community leaders have access to reliable and secure information on the government's services and on the needs of the people it serves. This function includes developing and applying policies on data security, on access to information and privacy, on document management, and on the purchase and maintenance of computer hardware and software.
First Nation Technology Council
Basic Administration activities include the practices which govern the efficient day-to-day functioning of the community administration such as general office procedures and policies on core internal services.
Aboriginal Financial Officers Association of Canada
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