RoadMap Project offers practical pathway to economic reconciliation for First Nations and Canada

OTTAWA, ON –/COMMUNITYWIRE/– The First Nations Financial Management Board (FMB) has launched a practical framework to advance Indigenous economic reconciliation across Canada. The RoadMap Project offers realistic and meaningful options to support First Nations governments in moving past the one-size-fits-all approach of the failed colonial system.

RoadMap empowers First Nations to achieve economic prosperity, self-reliance and the capacity for effective self-government. It also supports the implementation of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), through Indigenous-led initiatives, as well as the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples in the Canadian Constitution.

The FMB offers an illustration of how RoadMap can benefit First Nations through a short, animated video.

“RoadMap is about moving from a system where the First Nations’ governments manage poverty to a framework for First Nations to generate wealth,” says Harold Calla, executive chair of the FMB. “There is an urgent need to unlock the Indigenous economy, which has the potential to grow to $100 billion in the coming years. RoadMap proposes options for realizing this potential by sharing wealth and power. Fundamentally, it’s about First Nations having control over their economic futures. Making that happen is in the interest of not only First Nations, but all Canadians.”

RoadMap is presented in eight chapters totalling more than 400 pages of concrete proposals for change. This pathway is designed to empower:

• Informed policy decisions supported by statistics and data
• Better infrastructure through institutional support and improved access to capital
• Economic reconciliation through strong Indigenous economies
• Greater self-sufficiency through options to expand First Nations jurisdiction and fiscal powers
• Economies of scale and improved service delivery through First Nations working together
• Strengthened governance through capacity development and support from Indigenous institutions

“RoadMap reflects what we’ve been hearing from the First Nations we serve,” says FMB CEO Geordie Hungerford. “It reflects the ideas and experiences of our First Nations partners, and other Indigenous organizations, related to economic reconciliation and self-governance.”

The RoadMap framework proposes amendments to the First Nations Fiscal Management Act that will create new institutions including the First Nations Infrastructure Institute, designed to ensure more sustainable Indigenous infrastructure systems; and the Indigenous Development Bank, to address the unique capital needs of First Nations economic development.

The First Nations Fiscal Management Act (FMA) institutions are the driving force behind the RoadMap project. FMA institutions have a proven track record of supporting First Nations as they grow their economies and enhance their financial and administrative governance.

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Note to editors: Feel free to post the brief, animated RoadMap video to the videos section of your website as a news item. Cutline: The FMB recently launched its RoadMap Project: a practical, implementable pathway to economic reconciliation.

For more information on the launch of RoadMap and interview opportunities, please contact:

Robert South​
Acting Director, Strategic Opportunities
613-292-1847

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