The sheet of paper was so crinkled that I presumed someone had unwrapped it from the tightly wound ball it once formed.
On the well-worn document was a list of band councillors from Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN), which governs northeastern Saskatchewan reserves that include Amisk Lake and Pelican Narrows. A dollar amount was printed beside each councillor’s name.
The man who had mailed me the piece of paper, himself a PBCN member, claimed he was providing proof of fraud within the band.
I faced two problems. First, I had no way of knowing whether this was a real document. This was several years ago, and unlike today, you couldn’t just Google band salaries.
Second, the man’s insistence that this wrinkly paper contained proof of “fraud” was invalid. What he really meant was that in his opinion, PBCN’s elected officials were overpaid.
Claims that PBCN chief and council make a too-generous salary are again surfacing in light of the recent posting of the band’s financial statements online.
The statements show that Chief Peter Beatty earned $109,570 and claimed $90,401 in expenses for the year ended March 31, 2014.
The highest-paid PBCN councillor was Darren Linklater of Pelican Narrows, whose salary came in at $64,208 with expenses adding up to $141,913.
As the Globe and Mail noted last year, there is a wide disparity among chief salaries across Canada, with some making less than $20,000 and others pulling in $100,000-plus.
Some overpaid
Some First Nations politicians are undoubtedly paid too much, particularly when one considers that chiefs and councillors who have Indian status and work on reserves are not required to pay tax.
Consider Ron Giesbrecht, chief of BC’s 82-member Kwikwetlem First Nation. He reportedly earned a whopping $884,800 in 2013-14.
That same year, Chief Jim Boucher of Alberta’s Fort McKay First Nation reportedly made $644,441. As of last fall Fort McKay had 396 on-reserve members and 433 members living elsewhere, according to Fortmcmurraytoday.com.
In comparison to some, perhaps many, other chiefs, PBCN’s Beatty is hardly overpaid with his $109,570 wage. Nor does $64,000 a year, as generous a salary as that is, sound preposterous for PBCN councillors.
What must be remembered is that good, capable and qualified people in politics are few and far between. And in small communities, including reserves, mathematics dictate that they will be even fewer and farther between.
Many chiefs and councillors are talented individuals who could earn a very comfortable living outside of politics – and in cities with far more amenities than reserves can offer.
Offering to pay these people meager salaries might appease some taxpayers and disgruntled band members, but it likely wouldn’t help bands in the long run.
What’s important is that thanks to a new, long overdue federal law, every First Nation in Canada must annually post their audited financial statements online.
This is helping First Nations people themselves decide appropriate levels of compensation for their leaders. If change is needed, it is ultimately up to them to get the ball rolling.
Local Angle runs Fridays.
