Recently I had a column in the Winnipeg Sun which noted how the federal government is making changes to Aboriginal policy that is liked by grassroots band members, but has some chiefs grumbling.

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak then circulated this letter to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Below is my response...

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Chief Nepinak,

Thank you for your letter regarding my September 22, 2012 column in the Winnipeg Sun.

First, I would like to assure you the Canadian Taxpayers Federation is no “pawn” when it comes to advocating for more accountability from public officials and pushing for a more limited role for government. Those are objectives the CTF has worked hard on for over 20 years.

If you spend a few minutes on our web site you will see that we have complimented and critiqued the decisions of politicians across the political spectrum over the past 20 years. Throughout our history we have consistently pushed for transparency and accountability from all public bodies – including reserve governments.

I will also note that we have never claimed to represent all taxpayers. If someone wants higher taxes and less accountability from elected officials, we would never encourage them to join our organization.

One area where we will find agreement is your dream to end the inter-generational poverty on reserves across Canada. Surely we can both agree the reserve system has largely produced shameful results. In fact, it has been a colossal failure for both Aboriginal people on reserves and those living off reserve.

One of the first steps that we believe is essential to addressing the problem in the short term is greater accountability for all the funds in the system right now.

In terms of the legislation (C-27) before parliament that will put chiefs and councillors’ pay information on the internet for all to see, we are quite proud of that bill. After all, we pushed hard for that legislation long before MP Kelly Block’s first iteration of it; her private members bill C-575.

What spurred us to focus on the chief and council pay issue was a sentiment we kept hearing from people living on reserves who called our office. Many told us they routinely asked for their chief and council’s pay information, but were outright denied. In other cases people were given audit reports that were mysteriously missing the chief and council pay pages.

In fact, just last week a band member in B.C. sent us a letter she received from her band office. Incredibly, her band tried to tell her they could not presently disclose pay amounts for their elected officials as it violated privacy rules. They went on to suggest that C-27 is an onerous problem for their administration as it would unfairly add a heavy paperwork burden.

However, you and I know both of those excuses don’t hold water. As you pointed out, funding agreements already require reserves to disclose the pay information of their chief and council to band members.

The problem is many reserves simply ignore the rules and keep the pay information and other audit information from the grassroots.

As for putting the information online – posting a document (which reserves are already required to produce) on the internet is hardly an onerous task; even not-so-tech savvy people like me can figure it out.

The sad fact is band members routinely tell us their communities aren’t up front with how public funds are spent. That’s not acceptable. Everyone deserves to know how public funds are spent; whether it’s on reserve or off. Further, reserve politicians, just like every other politician in the country, should have to be transparent about their earnings and expenses.

While there are many chiefs and councilors out there that are transparent and working hard for their communities, we know from talking to grassroots band members across Canada that there are plenty of cases where chiefs and councilors are simply ripping their own people off blind and hiding details from the community.

How else would one explain letters like this one - click here? Or say all of these quotes that were provided to us by grassroots band members across Canada (click here)?

For anyone to suggest that reserves always disclose the chief and council’s pay information to the public because they’re supposed to…well, that’s quite naïve given the evidence.

We heard so many stories from band members that couldn’t get access to their chiefs and council’s pay information and audit documents that we set up a web site – www.ReserveTransparency.ca.

Sadly, we have watched chiefs’ organizations like the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) sit silent over the years when stories of outrageous chief and council pay salaries have been exposed. For example, when it was revealed in late 2009 that politicians on the Peguis reserve made more than the Prime Minister of Canada, AMC spoke about supporting accountability but didn’t stand up at all for the grassroots band members living on Peguis – many of whom were living in moldy homes.

In 2010, it was discovered that a chief and council on the Glooscap reserve in Nova Scotia were making outrageous sums. Yet many in her own community had no idea of what was going on. We’re still waiting to see the AFN stand up for the grassroots in Glooscap.

Make no mistake, C-27 will not solve all the problems on reserves. However, what it will do is ensure that grassroots band members have more information when it comes to separating the good apples from the bad ones during band elections.

As for a reduction to AMC’s annual grant from the federal government, we supported that move as well. In fact, we encourage governments to phase out all funding to special interest groups and advocacy organizations. Doing so would allow governments to reduce taxes and let people decide for themselves which organizations to support.

The bottom line is that if someone likes a particular organization’s work, they’ll have no problem making a voluntary donation. That is how our organization survives; surely AMC can also seek voluntary donations?

Again, thank you for your letter. By continuing to discuss issues such as these, hopefully it can help in some small way towards positive changes that will help improve accountability on reserves. Ultimately, we too hope that more Aboriginal people can be lifted from the clutches of poverty.

Colin Craig,
Prairie Director – Canadian Taxpayers Federation
Metis