Stoney band given green light, despite allegations

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Despite allegations of wrongdoing at the Stoney First Nations, Indian Affairs has so far given the band council's operations a favorable-albeit cautious - thumb's up.

The Stoney band claimed attention two months ago when a provincial court judge, presiding over a domestic assault case of a Stoney area man, withheld his judgment until an investigation was done on allegations of corruption on the reserve.

Court transcripts of Judge John Reilly's comments reportedly state that, ". . . Residents of the reserve have described it to me as a 'prison without bars,' and a 'welfare ghetto.'. . . Over and over, in conversations I have with Stoney people and non Stoney who have worked on the reserve, the finger is pointed at Chief John Snow as a significant factor." Reilly went on to liken the reserve as a "dictatorship of a banana republic."

Repeated attempts to contact Chief Snow have been unsuccessful, but since the allegations arose, he has denied any wrongdoing.

Indian Affairs seems to agree with Snow .

Fred Jobin, acting regional director for Indian Affairs, said the department is concerned with the issues raised on the reserve, but have found nothing wrong that can't be explained by rookie mistakes.

"People need to realize that there was a new election with three new chiefs and a significant number of councilors (in December)." he said.

Many of the faults found after an audit of the band's financial statements for the 1996'97 fiscal year were due to inexperience, he said.

According to the books, Jobin said the band received $46 million in total funding last year for its population of approximately 4,000 members. It ended up, however, with a $5.6 million deficit.

Auditors provided a "clear opinion" of financial records so far this year, meaning that the paper work matched the numbers in financial records. The books also showed that the majority of the deficit was created by the previous council, Jobin said, and the current council just inherited it.

Indian Affairs is now working with band administration to create a financial management plan.

Indian Affairs will continue to monitor operations of the band, and said if there are any illegal activities, they will be reported to the RCMP. So far, everything looks good, he added.

To date, "we are not aware of any criminal activity based on our reviews. We are not aware of anything being handed to the RCMP," he said.

Roy Littlechief, Elder and former chief of the neighboring Siksika Nation, thinks something is still very wrong at Stoney.

Littlechief said that Indian Affairs' role in the situation "is like having the coyote in charge of the chickens." He wants an independent audit group to examine the band's books.

MP Mike Scott, the Reform's Aboriginal Affairs critic said the situation for the Stoney people, is "pretty desperate."

After meeting with some "grass-roots" people, he said the big concern is fiscal management.

The government is "handing money to the bands with open and loose requirements," he said.

Indian Affairs said every dollar of its $4 billion annual budget to First Nations in Canada must be accounted for.

"They must provide annual reports to us over and above the [annual] audits," he said. "All the money we transfer to them, including their own [oil and gas revenue] money, must be accounted for."

Are there sufficient precautions and policy in place to stop the mismanagement of funds on reserves, Jobin was asked.

"We believe they are there," he replied.

At Stoney, the management plan will help get the band's finances on the right track, he said, but they will have to deal with the deficit on their own, and that may mean service and program cuts.

"There are some very tough decisions that the community is going to have to make," Jobin said.

Funding cuts to social programs were what triggered Judge Reilly's initial scrutiny of the Stoney band.

He wanted an investigation at the reserve because funding cuts to special programs left the man accused of assaulting hiswife with no where to turn for his drinking problems.

A revised financial plan and band budget is expected from Stoney within a month.