The Canadian Indian Act has to be amended. (Part II)

I have new information to put in my blog about the horrendous salaries that the chiefs and counselors in Indian bands in Canada pay themselves. This article is about one of those bands.

Angered by the extraordinary salaries collected by their chief and councilors, at least 15 members of a small native reserve in Nova Scotia (Glooscap First Nation) are trying to mobilize their community for an emergency meeting on the subject.

A petition is circulating on the band demanding a formal band members' meeting after revelations that Chief Shirley Clarke and her councilors were each paid, tax-free, more than $209,000 last year for running a band of only 300 people in which fewer than 90 of whom live on the reserve.

Two of the band councilors are Ms. Clarke's sister Lorraine Whitman and their cousin Michael Halliday. This is what is called nepotism--showing favoritism to relatives.

A member of the council was paid an additional $728,000 for doing other reserve jobs, or carrying out band-awarded contracts such as road paving or construction work for a total income last year of nearly $1-million, according to federal government records.

While hundreds of aboriginal politicians in reservations across Canada worked for small or reasonable salaries, hundreds more took home six-figure salaries that often exceeded the after-tax pay of the Prime Minister and the provincial premiers.

Glooscap's unnamed million-dollar councilor was the highest-paid politician on the list.

Glooscap bylaws state that its council must convene a band members' meeting if at least 20 members sign a petition asking for one. Members could ultimately use the meeting to remove the council from office by a majority vote.

Band member Brian Smith, who is spearheading the petition, said he simply wants an explanation from Ms. Clarke and her councilors of how much they were paid last year, where the money comes from and what their salaries are this year.

Mr. Smith said, “The petition is an attempt to get some clarification as to how the chief and council are being compensated, and then to discuss what we should do about it.” What they should do about it is fire the three and then sue them for the bulk of the money back and apply the money towards the welfare of the other members of the band.

Ms. Clarke and the councilors meanwhile declined requests for interviews on the matter, although she said in a statement that the furor over their salaries was based on “inaccurate and negative publicity.”

Federal Indian Affairs Minister John Duncan said that although federal tax dollars are involved, First Nations have responsibility for setting their own band salaries. Therefore he has no authority to intervene on behalf of the members of the Glooscap First Nation. That is unfortunate. This is reason why the abuse continues to thrive in some of the Indian reservations.

But Mr. Duncan did support the idea of a petition: "Isn't that what transparency and accountability is all about [that] the people actually have the opportunity to express their wishes at the ballot box, and in other ways?"

Mr. Smith, a former banker, now makes his living as director of operations for the National Centre for First Nations Governance; an independent, Vancouver-based organization that helps train native leaders on how best to serve their people and run good reserve governments. He said, “It's kind of ironic that my own community is going through the same kinds of governance issues that we train people to overcome.”

Mr. Smith further said that one of the main problems at Glooscap, as well as at other Canadian reserves, is a lack of discussion and accountability between band members and their elected leaders. According to him, "Band members need some way to communicate to the leadership, and the leadership needs to be open to hearing it. And think about it: If you're a councilor making a quarter of a million dollars a year, would you really want things to change?" unquote

Mr. Smith is one of five candidates running in a by-election to fill a vacancy on the Glooscap band council. He is the only one running who is not a direct family member of the chief or her existing councilors. That could be a problem for that band because if he is elected, he will be at odds with the other leaders of the band. when the issue of salaries comes up.

He said the control Ms. Clarke and her family enjoy over the band's affairs is one reason for the high salaries at Glooscap. He added, “Beyond their work as politicians, the chief and councilors also award themselves band office jobs, as well as reserve-funded construction and maintenance contracts.

Meanwhile many other reserve members live in poor conditions, unable to afford adequate food or heating fuel, and remain dependent on the council for welfare payments and housing. That dependence means few are willing to challenge their leaders about how the reserve is run.

I will keep my readers informed of new developments.