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From Calgary Herald

First Nations' salaries are their own business

By Andrew Bear Robe - December 6, 2010

As a First Nations person, I was disappointed by your editorial on the internal finances of First Nation communities across Canada. Your paper certainly takes a wide brush approach toward First Nation internal financial affairs based on questionable reports by the politically biased Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF).

I am tired of the continuing fiscal attacks on First Nation communities throughout Canada by the CTF, and its favourite target seems to be Alberta First Nations.

Your editorial article depicts all 634 First Nation governments in Canada as being comprised of irresponsible and greedy group of elected officials.

This simply is not true.

In reality, Canadian taxpayers do not fund chief and council salaries in Canada.

It is a matter of a treaty right under Section 35 of the Constitution Act of 1982 because the Victorian Treaties of 1871 to 1921 unequivocally state that the Crown would pay the salaries of chiefs and headmen.

The few fortunate First Nations that have natural resources on their lands and successful business enterprises, such as Osoyoos and Enoch, self fund most of their government operations, including setting the salaries for their elected members serving as chief and council.

It is their right to do so in a free and democratic society. No government should question the internal financial affairs of another government, unless it is committing egregious acts against its own citizens.

Canada provides a mere total of $95,000 annually to all First Nation communities in Canada for the salaries of chief and council under non-negotiable global Financial Transfer Agreements (FTA) with Ottawa. To be held accountable for a mere $95,000 for each First Nation government in Canada is hardly worth the time and expense to do so. The FTAs are capped at two per cent growth per annum for five-year cycles no matter how great the financial need or burden may be for a particular First Nation community.

If a First Nation community is without its own resources, it has to suffer federal under-funding as best as it could and go without many programs and services that Canadians take for granted such as hospital services, day-care services, community policing services, elder care services, street lighting and paved roads, ambulance services, child care services, and the list goes on.

Ottawa does not provide any funding for such services and neither do the provinces.

Consequently, many First Nations in Canada find themselves in third world living conditions.

As example, the Siksika Nation's total federal transfers under the FTA policy accounts for only 35 per cent of its total annual fiscal requirements. The other 65 per cent, or the federal funding shortfall, is paid out of Siksika Nation's own source revenues to provide public services for its citizens.

Most of Siksika Nation's own source revenues from oil and gas operations, farming and ranching, irrigation, and taxation is spent on the day to day living requirements for its citizens.

Over the past 15 years, the federal transfer portion of Siksika Nation's total fiscal needs under the FTA policy has steadily declined due to high population growth rates, inflation and cost of living increases such as post-secondary education tuition and student allowances, and ever increasing health-care and education costs.

Consequently, the global annual per capita spending by Ottawa on all Canadians far exceeds the annual per capita spending on First Nation communities by as much as $3,500 per capita.

It is glaringly obvious that First Nations are not getting a fair shake from the fruits of the Canadian federation unlike the provinces under the equalization principle.

As a matter of fact, the Canadian government and the provinces owe a big debt to First Nations across the country simply based on the non-fulfillment of the Crown's treaty promises made pursuant to the Victorian Treaties of 1871 - 1921.

Such treaties comprise 818,663 square miles, or 2,465,157,760 acres. Quid pro quo, the Crown promised what are referred to as treaty rights to free medical services, free educational services, economic assistance in times of need, famine or pestilence, tax exemption, and general transition provisions to a new way of life based on farming, ranching and education, otherwise referred to as the treaty livelihood promises.

The Victorian Treaties cover a little more thanone-half of the Canadian land mass.

The Victorian Treaties are peace and friendship treaties and are not land surrender treaties like the Canadian government likes to claim.

Second, the Victorian Treaties are totally silent on the matter of resource ownership. In addition, much Indian land was simply taken by the Canadian government since Confederation in 1867 without consent, without compensation or under fraudulent and questionable circumstances.

Consequently, we now have land claims and treaty land entitlement issues throughout much of Canada.

In the non-treaty areas of Canada, such as British Columbia, Quebec, the Maritimes and the Northwest Territories, there are Indian title or aboriginal title issues to be resolved.

Consequently, there is great uncertainty for the natural resources ownership in those areas of Canada not covered by treaty as required by international law.

It cannot be ignored that since Confederation, the Victorian Treaties have economically benefited both Canada and the provinces.

Therefore, First Nations accountability for the salaries of chief and council is insignificant in light of the foregoing larger unresolved treaty and land title issues.

If the issue of First Nations accountability and transparency for such minimal federal transfer payments are so important for Canadians such as Kelly Block, Lorne Gunter, and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, why not call for a commission of inquiry to get to the bottom of the issue and to get the real facts.

It will show that First Nation economies are net contributors to the annual growth of the Canadian GDP and not as net unaccountable takers.

I hope that this clarifies and illuminates this issue.

Andrew Bear Robe PhD is executive manager of the Siksika Nation.