Financial intervention policy questioned

Page 9

Chiefs across the country are outraged by the Indian Affairs policy that puts them into third party management if they run a deficit.

Under-funded programs and the costs of administering a community in a remote location are not taken into account, several chiefs said during the Assembly of First Nation Confederacy held in Ottawa Dec. 9 o 11.

The department of Indian and Northern Affairs (INAC) closely monitors First Nation spending. If a band council incurs a small debt, the department intervenes with advice. If the debt grows larger, a co-manager is appointed. If the debt exceeds a limit deemed to be serious by INAC, a third party manager is appointed.

Francis Flett, the Manitoba vice-chief, said only the third stage is a problem for First Nations.

"That's where the problem is. When they put you under third party management you lose all control of your administration of those funds in your community. It's just like actually stripping a chief and council of their own authority in the community. The third party manager is actually given the authority to run your affairs. They can hire and fire your staff as they so please to save money," he said.

Flett said it's virtually impossible to provide for the needs of the communities with the meager funding provided by INAC, especially in remote areas.

"Some of the northern communities in our region have to pay twice as much to get a house. That's because of winter roads and on top of that those winter roads come out of their own funds. Of course, the government does not give enough money to do all these things," he said.

And decisions made by bureaucrats that do not reflect an understanding of the unique demands placed on First Nation governments add to the problem, he said.

"Look at the social issues, social assistance. When the government says some of our people don't qualify-there's 90 per cent unemployment and they say our people don't qualify for social. And then of course they withhold all that funding for six months and it drives all our people into debt again. It's the same issue with housing, with health," the vice-chief said.

Flett said the third party managers rarely take the community's needs into consideration. They focus on the bottom line only.

"The third party manager and the department signed an agreement between themselves leaving the First Nation completely out of the picture. And when a community's put into third party management it takes away a lot of money," he said. "Three communities in Manitoba paid a third party manager over a million dollars a year to run their affairs. Now could we figure out a better way of spending that million dollars than paying somebody to sit in an office in Winnipeg and not come to the community to work with that community to control in some fashion or form the debt going higher and higher?"

Flett was participating in a debate on the wording of a resolution that would spell out the AFN's objections to the intervention policy. Flett urged the chiefs to direct the national office to push for a way "to make sure that the debt goes down."

He argued that once you were in, it was impossible to get out of third party management, because of the high salaries paid to the outside managers who come in. And they don't fix the problem that led to the debt in the first place in most situations, he said, because they can't. They simply refrain from spending more than the budget allows, even if serious needs have to be ignored.

Chief Wilfred King of Gull Bay First Nation inherited a third party manager when he was elected last year.

"Last year we paid our third party manager over $236,000 and all they effectively do is sign cheques for the First Nation. Part of their agreement is they're supposed to build capacity and they haven't done that," he said.

King accused INAC of interfering in his ability to do his job.

"Officials from the department of Indian Affairs had instructed our third party manager not to pay for ou expenses for our delegation to come to Ottawa and lobby on behalf of our people," he said. "Secondly, they also threatened to use our pay cheques to cover the expenses. To me, this is totally antithetical to the whole notion of political advocacy on behalf of your community. And I think it's political blackmail and we have to take a stronger position on the imposition of third party managers in our communities."

Another Manitoba chief called for an inquiry into "the policies and management of Indian Affairs Canada" in the region.

And Chief Claude Friday, of Saskatchewan's Piapot First Nation, leveled a serious accusation at INAC officials in his region.

"I have a third party manager that is collecting roughly $180,000 to $200,000 per year and it's been going on for four years. What he tells me is that we're not in debt," he said. "When the federal government takes your own money to pay third party managers to come into a community-in my case they don't even come into my community and work and yet they get paid an exorbitant amount of money."

"To top it off, what I inherited was a band under third party for two chiefs before me. When I questioned the third party manager's expenditures, the department of Indian Affairs and the third party manager cut my salary because they were moving money around in post-secondary and in our land area. I guess if you question your third party manager, they will cut your salary."

Wilfred King said his third party manager was getting paid a lot to do very little and was not solving any of the community's problems.

"Right now, INAC's paying our third party manager $126,000 a year. Essentially, all the third party manager's doing is signing cheques on behalf of the First Nation and getting us into further debt. I think that's a breach of trust on behalf of the department of Indian Affairs to unilaterally impose this third party manager on our community," he said.

And King also suggested there was a double standard at play. The ederal and provincial governments have run up deficits that are far greater than anything allowed under INAC's intervention policy, but they can force discipline on First Nations. He noted that the out-going Ontario government had left things in such a financial mess that the in-coming Liberals couldn't say with any certainty how big the province's debt might be.

"I'd just like to note that the government of Canada also carries an enormous debt. The province of Ontario, which is one of the richest in Canada, couldn't even figure out the debt. How many people do they have at their disposal to deal with these matters and yet when our community goes into a deficit of 15 per cent it will automatically put us in third party management? So I would like to see those fundamental issues addressed by the national chief's office because I think it's a racist policy. If anybody should be in third party management, I think it should be the province of Ontario," he said.