And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Your friend [EMAIL PROTECTED] thought you might want to read: Band fires chief after discovering he collected $350,000 in wages, benefits http://www.nationalpost.com/story.asp?f=990315/2374324 Band fires chief after discovering he collected $350,000 in wages, benefits Council also turfed: Residents of poor reserve furious over money management Elena Cherney and Tom Arnold National Post, with files from Saskatoon Star-Phoenix Angry residents of the Saulteaux native band northwest of Saskatoon, Sask., have fired their band chief after learning he collected more than $350,000 a year in salary and expenses, while the rest of the reserve is so poor that schoolchildren share broken pencils and photocopied textbooks. At a meeting Friday, more than 200 Saulteaux band members -- chanting "out, out, out" -- voted to dump chief Gabriel Gopher and his four band councillors, three of whom received more than $100,000 each for travel last year. "We were really disappointed about accountability," said Fred Gopher, who is Gabriel Gopher's brother. "You have to be accountable to the people you serve." A group of band members, which includes Fred Gopher and Rod Gopher, another of the chief's brothers, has been trying for more than two years to get Mr. Gopher and his council to produce the financial statements that they were required by provincial law to make public. Band members did not see any statements for the fiscal years ending March 31, 1997, or March 31, 1998, until this past January, and so did not know the chief and council had run up a deficit of more than $1.2-million. The band council receives about $7-million annually for education and social services on the reserve, said Fred Gopher. "It was shocking to us," he said of the debt. Just as shocking was the handling of the Treaty Land Entitlement (TLE) fund. Under the TLE deal reached between 28 Saskatchewan bands and the provincial government in 1992, the Saulteaux reserve was to receive $15.5-million over 12 years for the purchase of land for the band. According to unaudited general ledgers, the band spent $1.65-million of its Treaty Land Entitlement money on land acquisition costs in 1997 and 1998 -- but purchased no land. Most cash was spent on travel and meetings, "management" fees, and policy and professional development, said Jesse Primeau, the outside financial consultant the council was instructed by the government to hire when it first ran up a deficit in 1997. The unaudited ledgers showed that Mr. Gopher spent $176,645 on "land entitlement travel" between April and December of 1998. Altogether, he received about $354,000 in salary, travel expenses, and other benefits during the nine month period. Mr. Gopher is also driving a 1999 Lincoln Navigator sport utility vehicle that was purchased by the band, said his brother Rod Gopher. The unaudited ledgers showed three other councillors and two band employees each received more than $100,000 during the same period in 1998. One councillor, Merv Night, who takes care of the TLE portfolio, spent $137,000 on travel. "They're saying [the $1.65 million of TLE money spent] is costs associated with purchasing," Mr. Primeau said. "I don't know if it's legitimate or not. That's what the RCMP is looking at." The North Battleford RCMP is investigating allegations that the band's finances were "mishandled," Sergeant Bill Martin told the Saskatoon Star-Phoenix. Fred Gopher, who is fifth in the family of eleven children, said his concerns about the spending of TLE money prompted him to take action against the chief, even though it meant pitting family members against each other. "It was a tough decision we had to make," he said. "Money is being taken out of TLE with no land purchases and we're robbing our own future generations." While the chief and councillors have travelled and taken part in professional development, the reserve school has suffered from declining budget levels, said Rod Gopher. Teachers have told him there is no money for textbooks, and children study from photocopied sheets. School supplies are so scarce that teachers have to break pencils in half to give one broken piece to each student. Fred Gopher said he hopes the crisis at Saulteaux will prompt the government to demand more accountability from other band councils before granting them increased self-government. "This is opening a lot of eyes in Saskatchewan," he said. An audit of the Poundmaker Cree Nation, a reserve also near North Battleford, has revealed the deficit jumped from $370,000 to $2.1-million during the same time period. It indicated that Ted Anoine, the band chief, and several councillors, including the brother of the chief, received contracts from the band to provide a variety of services. More than 50 other Saskatchewan bands have accumulated large debts. An election is to be held at Saulteaux, which is 200 kilometres northwest of Saskatoon, on March 31. Until then, Gary Gopher, yet another brother of Gabriel's, has been appointed interim chief. &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
