TO: Chiefs-in-Assembly
DATE: June 14-15-16, 2005
FROM: Karihwakeron Tim Thompson
RE: PSE Taxation

COO resolutions against PSSSP taxation have been implemented. Correspondence has been issued to a number of levels of the federal government and the COO position has been raised in numerous education forums including, but not limited to, the National Roundtable on Lifelong Learning, the AFN-INAC joint working group on Post-secondary Education, and the National Working Group on Education for the First Ministers Meeting. COO correspondence to the Prime Minister in February, 2005 has not been answered.

Current Status/Analysis

A briefing to the AFN Executive in preparation for the May 31, 2005 Cabinet Committee retreat with leaders of five National Aboriginal Organizations suggested that the Prime Minister was expected to announce that the taxation of First Nations post-secondary funding would not proceed. However, this did not occur. During the course of a national policy convention for the Liberal Party of Canada, the Minister of Indian Affairs was quoted in media reports to the effect that the government was reconsidering its position on taxation of PSE funding. As of the writing of this note, First Nations post-secondary funding will be considered taxable income as of January, 2006.

Next Steps

First Nations – Crown relationships in all major sector areas are currently the subject of negotiations between the Assembly of First Nations and the Government of Canada, both in the process leading up to the Cabinet Committee retreat and in a proposed First Ministers Meeting on Aboriginal Issues currently scheduled for November 2005.

The Ontario Chiefs in Assembly must ensure that scrapping the PSE taxation initiative is a priority in the continuing negotiations between the AFN and the Government of Canada.