Accountability

Information regarding the First Nations Governance Act as it relates to administration and financial management.

Case study of Membertou First Nation, representing the principle of "Accontability and Reporting" as part of National Center for First Nation Governance's Best Practices series.

"The Governance Best Practices Report profiles the work of 25 First Nations, tribes and aboriginal organizations across Canada and in the United States. Based on NCFNG's principles of effective governance, each profile provides the reader with a brief snapshot of strategies, techniques, procedures or processes that produce efficiencies in governance."

"Conventional wisdom suggests that politics and business need to be completely separate from one other. This policy brief suggests that this 'wisdom' needs to be re-examined."

"This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 compares the process by which statutes are created (or amended) to that by which subordinate legislation is made into law. Section 3 briefly explores the role and activities of the Standing Joint Committee for the Scrutiny of Regulations. Section 4 consists of a detailed chronology of one (large) set of regulations, the Aboriginal Communal Fishing Licences Regulations (ACFLRs), focusing on their review and evaluation by the Standing Joint Committee.

"This report defines the language of outcomes, indicators, and performance measures and then summarizes a review of applications of several strategies and tools for tracking progress that have been developed since the late 80s. It then reviews the current performance measurement practice of Indian and Northern Affairs at the policy, program, intermediary, and community level. The results demonstrate a confused, wholly inadequate approach to the application of indicators and performance measures at every level.

The tools, traditions and relationships that it takes to re-build First Nations, to realize good governance, were the three key elements discussed at the Aboriginal Financial Management Association of B.C.- INAC conference on Governance and Accountability, held in Vancouver, June 10-11, 2002.

"This book offers effective strategies to help erase poverty. It advocates self-reliance, policy reform and cultural awareness. Accountability is required from all; the middle class, the trust fund babies and the underprivileged who see themselves as perpetual victims and have fallen into the entitlement trap. True Blue-prints are offered to rescue people from an economical slump and help them improve their life, and re-obtain a sense of self-worth."

Strategic planning and accountability type activities have been around for a long time. Individuals and organizations constantly look for new and innovative ways to improve what they do in these areas. In reality, some are more active at planning and some are more sophisticated in their approach. Strategic management has been thrust into the spotlight in the last decade as individuals and organizations realize that organizational success is often linked to results from enhanced activities in this area.

There is growing recognition of the significant effect the activities of the private sector have on society -- on employees, customers, communities, the environment, competitors, business partners, investors, shareholders, governments and others. It is also becoming increasingly clear that firms can contribute to their own wealth and to overall societal wealth by considering the effect they have on the world at large when making decisions.