Chief and council's pay range for 535 person reserve: $106,000-144,000

CTF renews call for placing all reserve council salaries on the internet

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) released more brown envelope documents today as part of its campaign for transparency of band council salaries. The documents show pay levels for the band council's four positions at the 535 person Ochi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation (Crane River) ranged from $106,000-$144,000 (taxable equivalent) for 2008-09, plus travel.
 
“There are 535 people on the reserve and yet band council members made taxable salaries equivalent to $106,000-$144,000” said Colin Craig, Prairie Director for the CTF. “That’s just not right. The average person on the reserve makes around $20,000. Imagine how many people on the reserve could have been put through training programs with those funds.”
 
By comparison, Manitoba's MLAs earned $83,722 in 2008 while the Premier earned $152,147.
 
In addition to band council pay, the average council position incurred $23,210 in travel expenses. It is not clear how such high expenditures were justified.
 
Documents provided to the CTF also included audit information which shows a reserve deficit of $506,825 for 2008-09, a debt of $1,189,782 and several troubling comments from the auditor:
 
“Chief and Council did not understand the budget and how it was to be used.”
 
“Employees were not penalized for not showing up to work or for not doing their jobs in a reasonable time frame.”
 
“Communication between the Accounting staff and Chief and Council was not sufficient as Chief and Council did not understand what the Accounting staff was doing to keep the First Nation operating.”
 
“This is the third brown envelope we have received from concerned band members in the recent past,” added Craig. “People are crying out, they want transparency. The government should change whatever legislation it has to in order to put the information on the internet for all to see.”
 
To view the documents, click here.