Starlight walks out on OCO red-tape

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Bruce Starlight is bitter and angry over his treatment at the hands of Olympiques Calgary Olympics (OCO) which, he says, forced him to walk away from his job last May without giving official notice.

Starlight, a Sarcee band member and coordinator of the Treaty Seven Corporation, a company formed to organize Native cultural participation in the olympics, says he is frustrated with OCO's bureaucracy and red tape.

Starlight is now considering writing an official letter of resignation after a Calgary Herald report stated OCO officials were unaware of Starlight's resignation and were under the impression he was still working on his project.

Starlight says he does not regret his action and cites examples of OCO's red tape. "I'm used to dealing with politics on the reserve," says Starlight who has worked for the Sarcee band for 16 years. "But I wasn't prepared for their (OCO's) brand of politics."

Starlight says he had been trying to lease space at the Burns Building for the exhibition. When asked to give a firm commitment Starlight had to get OCO approval. OCO in turn needed further consultation and funding was held up until a suitable location could be found.

"It was a catch-22," says Starlight. "I wound up running back and forth with no firm commitment," he laments.

The time frame of five months to stage the cultural exhibition, which was to include a trade-fair, was inadequate, says Starlight. The $10,000 allotted by the Native Economic Development Program (NEDP) to develop the concept was largely depleted through travel, office expenses and secretarial staff. In order to achieve what was expected of him, Starlight says he would have needed the help of about 12 people. As it was, says Starlight, he was only paid $900 a month.

The frustration that finally drove Starlight to abandon his post came after he was repeatedly asked to revise the concept he had drawn up. He made adjustments for the third time and waited.

A spokesman for OCO said the committee was "sorry" that Starlight had left the organization but pointed out that the position was funded by the Department of Indian Affairs not OCO and that Starlight had been working with his father-in-law, Blackfoot Chief Leo Youngman on his powwow project and had therefore been over-loaded.

Norman Grier chairman of the Treaty Seven Corporation, declined to be interviewed by Windspeaker, saying he did not wish to talk to the media and Sykes Powderface, Native liaison coordinator with OCO was unavailable for comment.