First Nations Gazette

The mission of the First Nations Gazette is to provide public notice of First Nation laws and by-laws and to serve as the authoritative reference for First Nation law in Canada. It is committed to maintaining the highest professional standards for legal publication.

The First Nations Gazette has five core objectives:

1. to enhance the recognition of First Nation laws;
2. to reinforce the laws through notice and publication;
3. to improve the quality of the First Nation laws;
4. to avoid the imposition of rigidity; and
5. to keep costs to a minimum.

The First Nations Gazette is a subscription based service, published semi-annually. An inaugural complimentary sample issue was published in 1997 and distributed to a wide audience including, but not limited to, First Nations, Aboriginal organizations, government departments, libraries, resource and utility-based companies, and members of the legal community. Subscriptions commenced in 1998 with subscribers being representative of the aforementioned groups.

Created in 1989, the Indian Taxation Advisory Board derives its mandate both from the Minister of Indian Affairs and from First Nations. It is the first independent Aboriginal-controlled institution involved in the excercise of the Minister of Indian Affairs' decision-making authority under the Indian Act. The First Nations Gazette is published as a natural complement to this mandate which is to assist both First Nations and the Minster of Indian Affairs in the development, passage and effective enforcement of real property taxation legislation.

In the evolution of the Indian Taxation Advisory Board to the First Nations Tax Commission per the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act, it is part of the FNTC mandate pursuant to s.34(2) of the First Nations Fiscal and Statistical Management Act to publish the First Nations Gazette. The First Nations Tax Commission is responsible for identifying and assembling all publication materials for each issue of the First Nations Gazette. These materials are then transmitted to the Native Law Centre for formatting and final publishing in accordance with the First Nations Gazette Style Guide.