Posted: Apr 13, 2021 11:43 AM AT | Last Updated: April 13
Premier Blaine Higgs has called on First Nations chiefs to negotiate 'a modern and sustainable economic partnership.'(Submitted by the Government of New Brunswick)
The New Brunswick government is pulling out of tax-sharing agreements with 13 Mi'kmaq and Wolastoqey First Nations, invoking its right to terminate some of the deals as early as this July.
Those agreements, which date back to 1994 and were last renewed in 2017, have fuelled economic growth in some Indigenous communities, particularly those that have built large gas retailers on reserve land.
The deals allow the First Nations to keep 95 per cent of on-reserve gas tax revenue up to $8 million and 70 per cent of amounts beyond that.