We often receive brown envelopes at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, but one that came in today, had some 'fall off your chair' numbers.

The package appears to have come from some citizens on the Peguis First Nation who are upset with the amounts paid to their band councillors. The documents, on BDO Dunwoody letterhead, appear to be audit reports for the years ending March 31, 2008 and March 31, 2009.

According to the documents, councillors received total remuneration between $208,572 - $310,731. Chief Hudson appears to have earned between $206,381 to $293,950. One has to remember, we're not talking about politicians running a country, the Peguis Reserve has about 7,200 people.

Further, those dollars are largely tax free. By contrast, the Premier of Manitoba and Winnipeg Mayor Sam Katz have a combined before tax income of about $286,000

Click here for the 2007-08 report and here for the 2008-09 reports. 

By contrast, take a look at the base pay for members of Altona, Manitoba's town council - serving a population of approx. 3700 people. An official with the town council's office noted that members of the council received top-ups for sitting on additional committees, but no one earned more than $20,000 per year.

These documents certainly look official, as do the other ones that were provided. The Department of Indian and Northern Affairs and the band council should post the true figures online. Especially as the Campaigned on transparency and accountability.