Standing Buffalo to fight back against provincial tax

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If the provincial government changes its policy and forces status Indians to pay provincial sales tax on all off-reserve purchases, the Standing Buffalo band may build its own shopping mall on the reserve, said Chief Mel Isnana.

"It's something we've considered," said the chief. "If the province wants our people to pay those taxes when we purchase goods off the reserve, we can turn around and put retail businesses on the reserve where the PST wouldn't apply."

If approved, construction on the proposed shopping mall could begin this spring, he said.

Forcing status Indians to pay the PST on off-reserve purchases would hurt businesses in communities such as Fort Qu'Appelle and Balcarres, that rely heavily on Indian customers for their business, Isnana said.

"From dry goods to lumber, to plumbing to pharmacy stuff, our people spend a lot of money in the businesses of this community," he added. "If the province wants to hurt its own business community, let them go right ahead."

The Standing Buffalo plan comes in the wake of the release of the Saskatchewan Personal Income Tax Review Commission report earlier this month. The commission recommends, among other things, that the province cut its sales tax from six to five per cent, but apply the PST to goods - and people - where the tax is currently not charged.

This would include forcing First Nations people to pay the PST on purchases made off-reserve, as well as harmonizing the PST to all goods and services where the federal Goods and Services Tax is applied. First Nations people paying PST would provide the province with an extra $6.7 million a year in revenue, the report concludes.

Chief Isnana questions why First Nations people would have to pay taxes to support a system of government which is not working in their interest.

If a shopping mall is built on the Standing Buffalo First Nation, this could escalate the dispute between the provincial government and Saskatchewan's Indian bands over who pays the PST.

If the province breaks with its precedent, the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations will take court action, said FSIN Grand Chief Perry Bellegarde.

"If we can't solve this problem politically then we will have no choice but to go the legal route."

The tax reform commission says having all who reside within Saskatchewan's boundaries paying the same PST is a matter of tax fairness. This is echoed by policies announced by the Saskatchewan Party - the opposition party in the Saskatchewan legislature - during the last provincial election.

The FSIN maintains the PST exemption is a treaty right.

"Our Elders have maintained that this would violate our inherent and treaty rights as First Nations people," said Bellegarde. "Our argument has been that we have prepaid our taxes by sharing our land with the newcomers, who have made profits from this land."

Currently status Indians pay the Goods and Services Tax and taxes that are hidden in purchase costs and passed onto consumers, he said. In addition, companies owned by status Indians or their governments must pay corporate taxes.

Bellegarde, a member of the Little Black Bear First Nation, calls the proposal "a tax on the poorest of the poor.

"The people promoting this plan say this should be done so that everyone is equal," he said. "If they want true equality, then let Saskatchewan's non-Aboriginal peoples have 80 per cent unemployment and the economic and social problems which our people have to deal with."

Saskatchewan Party MLAs Don McMorris of Indian Head-Milestone and Glen Hart of Last Mountain-Touchwood (who is also the party's deputy critic on First Nations affairs) were unavailable for comment at press time.