Vol. 145, No. 5 — March 2, 2011

Registration

SOR/2011-36 February 10, 2011

FIRST NATIONS GOODS AND SERVICES TAX ACT

ARCHIVED — Order Amending Schedule 1 to the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act, No. 2010-2

P.C. 2011-209 February 10, 2011

His Excellency the Governor General in Council, on the recommendation of the Minister of Finance, pursuant to section 15 (see footnote a) of the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act (see footnote b), hereby makes the annexed Order Amending Schedule 1 to the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act, No. 2010-2.

ORDER AMENDING SCHEDULE 1 TO THE FIRST NATIONS GOODS AND SERVICES TAX ACT, NO. 2010-2

AMENDMENTS

1. Schedule 1 to the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act (see footnote 1) is amended by replacing “Reserve of Bonaparte” in column 3 opposite “Bonaparte” in column 1 with the following:

Each reserve of Bonaparte that is not shared with another band

2. Schedule 1 to the Act is amended by replacing “Reserve of Buffalo Point First Nation” in column 3 opposite “Buffalo Point First Nation” in column 1 with the following:

Each reserve of the Buffalo Point First Nation that is not shared with another band

3. Schedule 1 to the Act is amended by replacing “Reserve of Kahkewistahaw” in column 3 opposite “Kahkewistahaw” in column 1 with the following:

Each reserve of Kahkewistahaw that is not shared with another band

4. Schedule 1 to the Act is amended by replacing “Reserve of Kamloops” in column 3 opposite “Kamloops” in column 1 with the following:

Each reserve of Kamloops that is not shared with another band

5. Schedule 1 to the Act is amended by replacing “Reserve of Skeetchestn” in column 3 opposite “Skeetchestn” in column 1 with the following:

Each reserve of Skeetchestn that is not shared with another band

6. Schedule 1 to the Act is amended by replacing “Reserve of the Tsawout First Nation” in column 3 opposite “Tsawout First Nation” in column 1 with the following:

Each reserve of the Tsawout First Nation that is not shared with another band

7. Schedule 1 to the Act is amended by replacing “Reserve of Tzeachten” in column 3 opposite “Tzeachten” in column 1 with the following:

Each reserve of Tzeachten that is not shared with another band

COMING INTO FORCE

8. This Order comes into force on the day on which it is registered.

REGULATORY IMPACT
ANALYSIS STATEMENT

(This statement is not part of the Order.)

Issue and objectives

Schedule 1 to the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act identifies First Nations that have a power to enact a law imposing the First Nations Goods and Services Tax (FNGST) and with which Canada may enter into a tax administration agreement for the FNGST. Next to the names of the First Nations, Schedule 1 also shows the names of the First Nations’ governing bodies and descriptions of the lands where their FNGST laws could apply.

A recent review of the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act determined that some of the First Nations that are listed in Schedule 1 share one or more of their reserves with at least one other First Nation. This order addresses the circumstances of seven such First Nations. Only one of the First Nations has implemented the FNGST at the present time and no taxable activity is occurring within the reserves that it shares with other First Nations. However, the existence of shared reserves means that more than one FNGST law could apply within a shared reserve and creates the possibility of taxpayers experiencing higher levels of taxation there.

The objective of the Order is to confine the application or potential application of the FNGST laws of the seven First Nations so they have effect only within reserves that are set aside uniquely for the taxing First Nations and not within any shared reserves that are set aside for the use and benefit of other First Nations in addition to the taxing First Nations.

Description and rationale

This Order amends Schedule 1 to the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act by changing, for seven First Nations, the description in column 3 of the lands where each First Nation’s law imposing the FNGST could apply. The seven First Nations are

  • Bonaparte, which is situated near Cache Creek, British Columbia;
  • Buffalo Point, which is situated by Lake of the Woods in Manitoba;
  • Kahkewistahaw, which is situated near Regina, Saskatchewan;
  • Kamloops, which is situated near Kamloops, British Columbia;
  • Skeetchestn, which is situated near Kamloops, British Columbia;
  • Tsawout, which is situated near Victoria, British Columbia; and
  • Tzeachten, which is situated near Chilliwack, British Columbia.

Each of the seven First Nations currently shares one or more of its reserves with at least one other First Nation. In the short term, the amendment would prevent the FNGST laws of the seven First Nations from applying within shared reserves. In the longer term, however, in cases where the First Nations that share a reserve agree that the FNGST law of a particular First Nation should apply within the shared reserve, the schedule could be amended again to broaden the application of that First Nation’s tax power to include the shared reserve.

Consultation

Each of the seven affected First Nations was notified about the shared reserves issue and the proposed amendments to Schedule 1 to the First Nations Goods and Services Tax Act. The order and the related Regulatory Impact Analysis Statement were also prepublished in the Canada Gazette, Part I. No comments affecting the amendments have been received in response to the notifications and prepublication.

Contact

Ken Medd
Aboriginal Tax Policy Section
Department of Finance
140 O’Connor Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0G5
Telephone: 613-996-2192

Footnote a
S.C. 2005, c. 19, s. 9

Footnote b
S.C. 2003, c. 15, s. 67

Footnote 1
S.C. 2003, c. 15, s. 67