While Canadians wait for the eventual abolition of the Indian Act, the issue of greater accountability and transparency for the 7.5 billion federal tax dollars spent each year on aboriginal affairs must be address. To ensure greater accountability and transparency, an Ombudsman for aboriginal affairs needs to be established. In addition, the Auditor General of Canada's mandate should be expanded to included native bands.

Every office of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) receives calls from natives. Many frustrated with their local council. Others frustrated with the Department of Indian Affairs. Some allege corruption; some allege incompetence; all want change and greater accountability from their governments. Each year Department of Indian Affairs receives hundreds of complaints alleging financial wrongdoing, corruption, forgery, fraud and theft. In other words, Native Canadians are like any other citizen who, on occasion, becomes frustrated with their government. Regrettably, there is no independent redress body for natives to turn.

An Ombudsman for aboriginal affairs needs to be established. The Ombudsman would have authority to investigate complaints and propose changes to be made in a band's administrative practices or the administrative practices of the Department of Indian Affairs. If the band or the Department fails to make those changes, a report would be brought before Parliament.

The Auditor General of Canada is an independent audit office serving Parliament and Canadians, and is widely respected for the quality and impact of its work. The Auditor promotes accountable government, an ethical and effective public service, good governance, sustainable development, and the protection of Canada's legacy and heritage.

The Auditor General's office is able to achieve its goals by conducting independent audits and studies that provide objective information, advice, and assurance to Parliament, government, and Canadians by working collaboratively with legislative auditors, federal and territorial governments, and professional organizations.

According to federal Auditor General reports, 80 per cent of federal funding for aboriginal affairs is transferred to Indian band councils to then distribute the funds. Indian bands are required by the Department of Indian Affairs to have their expenses audited; however, this information is not available to the general public or to the Auditor General. In other words the taxpayers - whose money is being used - are not able to assess how well, or poorly their money is spent. Furthermore, Indian band members are sometimes denied access to the financial audits by their band government. No checks and balances foster inefficiencies, redundancies, corruption and even abuse.

If the ultimate goal is to eventually have all Canadians treated with the same rights and responsibilities regardless of race or ancestry, then creating another separate office of the Auditor General may not be the best route to achieve the goals or the best use of tax dollars. The expansion of the existing Auditor General's mandate to include native bands would not require as many tax dollars to operate due to the economies of scale that could be utilized, and the standard of audits, mandates and scrutiny would remain consistent.

The audits would uncover waste, mismanagement, and corruption and will provide band members and taxpayers with an indication of the efficiency, effectiveness and the quality of services being offered on reserves. Furthermore, the expansion of the Auditor General's mandate will ensure native band governments have their audits conducted in a similar fashion as the federal and provincial auditors conduct their audits of government departments and programs.

Good governance, accountability and transparency are minimal requirements for native communities to thrive. An Ombudsman for aboriginal affairs and an expansion of the Auditor General to include native bands is a step in the right direction. However, it will only be through the elimination of the Indian Act that all Canadians - native and non-native - will be treated with the same degree of equality and enjoy the same rights and responsibilities.