INFORMATION
BULLETIN
For Immediate Release
Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs
September 3, 1998
VICTORIA — Financial and fisheries side
agreements signed by treaty negotiators for Canada, British Columbia
and the Nisga’a are now available. The side agreements are
related to, but not part of, the Nisga’a Final Agreement
and come into effect following ratification. Unlike the final
agreement, they will not be constitutionally protected.
The Own Source Revenue Agreement
sets
out how the Nisga’a will contribute to the costs of Nisga’a
government and has an initial term of 12 years. The proportion
of the costs of Nisga’a government and services paid by
British Columbia and Canada will reduce over time as the Nisga’a
contribute from tax and fee revenues, interest on treaty settlement
payments, and business and investment activities, including natural
resource management. Nisga’a citizens will also support
their government services indirectly through taxes paid to British
Columbia and Canada.
The Fiscal Financing Agreement
sets out how Canada, British Columbia and the Nisga’a will contribute
to public services such as health care and education and will
begin on the effective date of the treaty and be renegotiated
every five years. In the first five years, B.C. will provide $1.2
million annually and Canada will provide $30.9 million annually,
with the federal share adjusted annually for inflation and population
growth. The Nisga’a will begin to contribute after two years
and will pay a higher proportion of costs over time.
The Taxation Agreement
sets out non-treaty
tax provisions including exemptions to or refunds on income and
goods and services taxes enjoyed by local governments and other
public bodies. The final agreement and tax agreement do not give
Nisga’a government the power to levy taxes over any person
other than a Nisga’a citizen on Nisga’a lands.
The Harvest Agreement
provides the Nisga’a
with an allocation of sockeye and pink salmon, outside the final
agreement and without constitutional protection. The allocation
will average about nine per cent of the Canadian Nass River total
allowable catch and will not have priority over other commercial
or recreational fisheries. In years when there are no commercial
fisheries authorized for sockeye and pink salmon, the Nisga’a
will not be eligible to sell these species. The agreement operates
on a 25-year term and after 15 years can be renewed for an additional
25 years.
Summaries and copies of the agreements can
be obtained by calling the toll-free Nisga’a information
line at 1-800-880-1022.
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Media Contact:Peter Smith, Ministry
of Aboriginal Affairs,
Phone: (250) 356-8750, cell (250) 480-9653
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Nisga'a Final
