Federation chief Perry Bellegarde says the government should have consulted bands about its new fiscal transparency bill.
Bill C-27 will require bands and councils to openly publish their salaries and expenses.
Debate over the measure is expected to shut down after Aboriginal Affairs minister John Duncan said he planned to force a vote on the issue.
Bellegarde says the government didn’t work with First Nations even though they’ve made repeated calls for an auditor general’s office of their own:
“As far as I’m concerned you know, we’ve already been doing this at the community levels. So again it was unilaterally done, unilaterally imposed. I support the principles of transparency, openness and accountability. Why they moved down this road – you’d have to refer to the government’s agenda themselves. ”
Bellegarde also says several bands make financial information available to their members and the FSIN reports publicly through its annual reports.