The deadline has passed for First Nations to disclose their pay and financial statements to the Canadian public.

More than 90 per cent of Canada’s First Nations communities, 529 of 582, made their salaries, expenses and consolidated financial statements public through the First Nations Financial Transparency Act.

On Thursday, Aboriginal Affairs posted online the names of 52 First Nations across the country who did not comply with the act.

Fifteen of those First Nations are in Manitoba. It’s the highest number of non-complying First Nations in the country, and includes communities like Roseau River, Norway House and Lake St. Martin.

Colin Craig from the Canadian Tax Payers Federation said he’s happy to see so many First Nations comply, but he hopes the number grows.

"It's a basic component of a democracy for politicians to disclose to the public how much they're making, so it's good that the new law brings aboriginal politicians in line with municipal, provincial and federal politicians who have done this for years," said Craig.

The federal government is threatening to withhold funding for First Nations who don’t comply with the act. Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt said that means non-essential funding.

“We will not penalize the membership of those First Nations whose leadership refuses to comply with the law. Social services, education, housing – I mean that is not the type of funding we will withhold. Administrative level, funding for chiefs and council salaries if I can (withhold), and also other project funding for economic funding and the like.”

Brokenhead Ojibway Chief Jim Bear said he's meeting the government's obligations under duress. “The governments make it sound that we are not accountable to our people, and that's totally b.s.,” said Bear.

He said has nothing to hide.

"We're very accountable to our people but…it should only be to our people," he said.

Bear said Ottawa is looking at money made through private ventures and clawing back funds based on business revenue. It’s something other First Nations leaders take issue with as well.

"The people we report - to our band members - those are the people who should be seeing this information. Anybody outside of that certainly shouldn't have that right," said Peguis First Nation Chief Glenn Hudson.

One First Nation has been granted an extension. The Kashechewan First Nation in northern Ontario has a bit more time to post its documents because it is still dealing with the aftermath of a flood.

The list of ones that didn't meet the deadline was published a day after the Onion Lake Cree Nation filed a statement of claim in Federal Court against the government over the financial-transparency law.

Onion Lake, which straddles the Alberta-Saskatchewan border, is one of the First Nations that has not posted its financial information online.

- with files from The Canadian Press