Average councilor salary only $31,000 a year

At least one band member from the Wabauskang First Nation near Ear Falls, Ont. has asked the federal government for salary figures for his chief and council.
Wabauskang Chief Cameron Leslie thinks it’s an election ploy. Members go to the poll to vote on June 12 and Leslie is being challenged for his position by one of two sitting councilors.

“I think people are just being mean or sneaky to one another,” said Leslie.

He said it is not his council’s practice to post the nation’s audited financial statement for ready access of the general public. But he’s not keeping the information away from his community members, he said.

“It’s public information. If they want (it), they can come and see us. But they’ve never come to see us.”
Leslie said council met with band members in early May and “showed our cheques there.” However, it wasn’t enough and another meeting was scheduled to provide additional information.

Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) requires band councils to make annual financial audited statements available to members. According to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) this isn’t happening.

The Wabauskang First Nation is one of seven First Nations that appear on the federation’s Web site under the heading “information request tracking.” Wabauskang is the only Ontario band, but there are three named from Saskatchewan and three named from Manitoba. The site states that “information requests (were) made by band members to the federal government.” The list is made up of the requests the CTF has been copied on or made aware of.”

The CTF is pushing that the salaries paid to chief and council for the 600-plus First Nations across the country be made public, not only to band members but to all Canadians. It’s an issue the federation has taken up because “we’ve been selected by concerned whistleblowers on reserves right now,” said Scott Hennig, Alberta director with CTF.

In recent weeks, Hennig said the federation was the recipient of “brown envelopes” from band members who were “somehow able to obtain financial and salary documents for us to make public.”

Hennig said that not only do band members have difficulty getting salary information from their councils, but they become frustrated dealing with INAC to get the information.

Genvieve Guibert, media relations officer with INAC, said if band members can’t get the information from their council, the department “works with the First Nation government to ensure that the information is released.” Guibert didn’t elaborate on what steps INAC takes.
Hennig said band members find they get the run-around from both council and INAC when it comes to getting those figures.

To that end, CTF recently launched the Web site www.reservetransparency.ca “to help you know your rights and how to receive information” according to the Web site.

Joseph Quesnel, a policy analyst with the Frontier Centre for Public Policy, views the Web site as a valuable tool to walk First Nations members through the process of getting the information they want.

“A lot of band members report difficulty getting the financial data for the salaries of their chief and council,” said Quesnel, whose organization conducts an annual Aboriginal Government Index study in which band members of participating First Nations in Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Alberta are asked to comment on transparency and administration.

“Members need to know that their leaders are getting paid what the community feels is just,” said Quesnel. He noted that since the community doesn’t directly pay their chief and council and since each band council votes for its own salary, transparency is that much more important.

“As much as possible (salary) information should be able to be published, but they still need to be respectful of private business dealings,” said Quesnel.
Leslie said if a band council is “willing to do things fairly, honestly, we should have nothing to hide.”

Leslie said his salary is less than what the previous chief made and noted that if he were to be paid for all the hours spent conducting business on behalf of Wabauskang First Nation, he would “bankrupt the band.”

  Leslie brings in $2,000 every two weeks, as well as receiving a honorarium for representing Wabauskang at other meetings, such as Treaty 3. Wabauskang First Nation has 80 people living on reserve. Leslie said his salary and that of his council is set “to try to keep everybody all surviving.” Leslie also has a part-time job in the community. He said that chief and council salaries at Wabauskang “are a lot lower than what other bands receive.”

According to INAC’s Web site, in 2008-2009 the average wage for the position of chief was $60,000, ranging from $0 (volunteer) to $250,000; and an average councilor’s wage was $31,000, ranging from $0 to $216,000.

Information received by the taxpayers’ federation claimed that the four leaders of the 535-member Ochi-Chak-Ko-Sipi First Nation in Manitoba were paid the taxable equivalent of about $144,000 each in 2008-2009, plus travel expenses, while Chief Harry Sharphead of the Enoch Cree First Nation in Alberta, with an on- and off-reserve population of about 2,000 citizens earned $180,000 per year.

According to INAC’s Web site: “There are a number of factors that are typically considered by a First Nation in determining the remuneration for their elected officials including their responsibilities and duties; the size of the community; the complexity of the business operations in the community; the own-source revenue of the community, etc.”

Hennig said since taxpayers pick up the federal portion of chiefs’ and councilors’ pay, dollar figures should be made available to the general public and not only band members.

“If we’re going to sit as leadership we should be willing to let people know what we’re making,” said Leslie.