Hello Friends,
I've been following the issues arising out of the Idle No More movement and Chief Spence's hunger strike out on Victoria Island in Ottawa. The release of the Deloitte Touche audit has certainly raised some questions about the band's spending and many people now cast the blame for this apparent mismanagement on the currently elected Chief. Here's my take on what's gone on.
The first issue: "What happened to the $90 million dollars in tax money?".
This $90 million dollars in tax dollars was received by the band over 5 years. There are approximately 1500 - 1800 residents in the band. This works out to approximately $10,000 per person per year in the band. This is for all government provided services, which include housing, health care, education, recreation, social service and infrastructure. Sounds like a lot? The City of Toronto receives approximately $24,000.00 per person to pay for the same things. And expenses in Attawapiskat are substantially higher. By clicking on the links, you can access resources that explain the points more fully.
http://www.oktlaw.com/blog/taking-a-second-look-at-those-attawapiskat-numbers/
http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2011/12/04/brett-hodnett-the-real-math-behind-attawapiskats-90-million/
The second issue: The audit shows that many of the band transactions were lacking proper documentation. There no denying this is not good, but of 409 transactions examined that lacked appropriate documentation, only 30 occurred under the watch of Chief Theresa. The audit shows that in the 2 years under Chief Spence's leadership audit compliance doubled. It's still unacceptable but there's no denying the improvement.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2013/01/09/f-attawapiskat-finances-faq.html
Consider that all of the band expenses have been approved by a federally appointed co-manager, even those improperly documented ones. And just how long has the government been co-managing Attiwapiskat's finances? 12 years. A lot longer than Chief Theresa has been their leader!
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/12/01/attawapiskat-thursday.html
Many people will point to the fact that the current co-manager was Chief Theresa's partner, but let's be clear --she didn't hire him, the government did. And together they seem to be doing a better job. The band has accepted that the audit showed a need for continued improvement. The band auditors Ross, Pope and Company indicate that financial policies have been implemented to address the procedural deficiencies following the audit.
And in April 2012, the federal government ended the 12 year period of financial co-management. Minister Duncan made this decision. He said, "In recognition of the accomplishments that have been achieved.” So it appears that Chief Spence has in fact been quite a bit more effective than the federal government in bringing accountability to band finances.
The third issue: Why has the band spent money on sports facilities and the like when there is a housing crisis. The decisions to invest in a sports complex / healing centre / ice rink were made prior to Chief Theresa's election as Chief.
The extreme housing crisis arose as a result of sewage backup that had been linked to DeBeers dumping into a sewage system that federal reviews exposed as very likely to fail. The government did nothing to improve the situation and the system inevitably failed, more than once, causing raw sewage to back up into homes, the housing crisis ensued.
http://aptn.ca/pages/news/2011/12/13/de-beers-decision-to-dump-sewage-into-attawapiskat-played-role-in-current-housing-crisis/
So, two years later, in 2011, the government committed $500,000 for housing renovations. If you've ever done a home reno, I think you'll have an idea of how not-very-far that would take you to improve housing for hundreds of people.
Questions have been raised about the money Attawapiskat receives annually from DeBeers. The $5 million is shared between a number of bands such that Attawapiskat receives about $2 million per year. Under the trust agreement negotiated between the band, the government and the company, this money cannot be spent on urgently needed housing, but must be invested. The reason for this is because the mineral resources taken from the band lands will eventually be gone, but the band will continue to live on the land and require long-term stable income. It sounds more reasonable when it's looked at in that light, especially because when the deal was made the housing situation was bad, but not a crisis. Furthermore, this agreement was set up by the previous band council and when the Chief sought to access the funds to build housing, she found it could not be renegotiated.
I am not saying that there is nothing wrong with Attawapiskat finances. Clearly, there is substantial room for improvement. And it is not right that there are some people driving around in expensive trucks and living the good life when others struggle in what appear to be moldy, third world shacks.
But, when we think about it, the band seems to have the same disparity between wealthy and poor that afflicts the rest of Canada and the world. It is a double standard to demand that this small band be a social utopia where everybody is equally well or badly off when we just found out Canada's top paid executive earned $40 million last year.
So, while I'm not giving her a gold star, it seems to me far-fetched that Ms. Spence went on a hunger strike to draw attention to herself when she is in fact a fraudulent criminal causing the starvation of her people. I think for a start she's asking for the same funding for her people as the people of the City of Toronto receive.
Susan Berry
