"It's the law, and it's right"

Page 5

Dear Editor:

Funds received from the government of Canada are to manage Native communities in the best way we can. And, this is usually so. But we're always short-changed. The monies received are not sufficient to buy services or material from the outside world of Native communities, to follow its plan.

Some retailers and service people charge far more than the value of their service because they know we are Natives, or "Indians", in their point of view.

Some services provided by non-Natives even enter the community to sell their service on a daily basis, making friends with some Natives. The value of their service is of poor quality and charges are extreme.

Some even create imaginary problems in order to provide service. One person wanted to dig up my waterline saying that there was a leakage problem on the line and he had to look for it. There was no problem on the waterline. It was the valve in the well. I didn't give permission to dig, but what if it was somebody with low education and didn't know anything about waterlines.

Another serviceman was to repair my furnace. He told me that he was going to fix the furnace temporarily so that he would have to come back and get paid for it by the administration of our community. He was doing this to all households in our Native community. And, these people are non-Natives.

So, where is the money going? Right back where it came from, the outside world. And the people want to know how the money is spent in Native communities.

Some non-Natives are practically living in our Native community, just to provide service. They're getting rich from us. They've built their assets from the Native communities with huge houses and up-to-date vehicles.

Not all council-operated communities are dishonest. They are reliable and honest. Dishonesty comes from the outside world with no compassion. These little devils that come to our Native communities are full of greed and selfishness. They don't care of accountability, as long as they get their share of the money. Natives that pick up the experience are very few because greed and selfishness got the best of them.

Should the Natives open their books to the public? The law says, "No" and it's right. Only the members of Native communities should see the books where the money was spent. Council should seek advice from their members on how to spend the money and where. The members of First Nations should know what is going on in their communities.

My Native community has been working very well, but we acquired a deficit and it's understandable to our community. We needed more houses and better drinking water. We needed better services and facilities. These things cost a lot of money and we're paying dearly for them, annually.

We're building a healthier community and working on that goal. The tax money is well spent and we want credit for it.

The tax money is money from the public to be used for services and infrastructure by the government. To myself, tax money, from the government, is like rent money given to us for the use of our lands, which we never surrendered, nor have we ever been conquered. All the royalties taken by the government from our natural resources should have gone to Native people because it's our land. If this had happened when they formed the government on our land, we would have been rich today, as communities, and lead healthier lives. We wouldn't have lived as a Third World country.

Tax money received by Native people should be held confidential, but accountable to its members. How the money is spent in the Native communities should rest on the members themselves. It's their business.

Allister Marshall

Chapel Island First Nation, N.S.