The Fiscal Relations Committee, a subset of Chief Negotiators, has provided valuable input and guidance to the Fiscal Relations Secretariat. In the first Fiscal Relations Committee meeting the point was vigorously made that each and every First Nation was unique. Furthermore, it was suggested by members of the committee that options for an improved fiscal relationship must be flexible enough to accommodate all different types of First Nations, including those that had limited economic development or revenue generating opportunities.

As a result of these discussions, terms of reference were drafted to conduct ‘case studies’. The idea was to examine the impacts of different fiscal options on different types of First Nations. The result has been the development, in cooperation with Canada and British Columbia, of an analytical tool.

The Fiscal Arrangements User Model is a Microsoft Excel based spreadsheet model that examines the fiscal position of a First Nation government over a 20-year time frame. The FRWG used the services Bill Stipdonk of Metrix Consulting to develop the Fiscal Arrangements User Model. Some structural changes were made to the FRWG version of the model to create this ‘user-friendly’ beta version. British Columbia currently holds the copyright to the Fiscal Arrangements User Model.

The beta version of the Fiscal Arrangements User Model is currently undergoing a testing period to test for technical errors or shortcomings. First Nations are encouraged to provide feedback on any technical problems they encounter or suggestions for improvement. Feedback can be provided to the BC Treaty Commission info@bctreaty.net, the First Nations Summit Fiscal Relations Secretariat fiscalrelations@fns.bc.ca, or Metrix Consulting bstipdonk@shaw.ca.