moved that Bill C-222, an act to establish the office of First Nations Ombudsman to investigate complaints relating to administrative and communication problems between members of First Nations communities and their First Nation and between First Nations, allegations of improper financial administration and allegations of electoral irregularities, be read the second time and referred to a committee.
Mr. Speaker, I am pleased to present this private member's bill on behalf of thousands of grassroots natives from many reserves across our land who have, through their work throughout the last couple of years, proposed the idea of creating an ombudsman, someone to whom they can go with the difficulties they face on the reserves. It gives me a great deal of pleasure, having worked with many of these people over an extended period of time, to present this bill today.
My involvement with Indian affairs began in December 1998 when I was named deputy Indian affairs critic. At the same time, the Stoney Reserve in my riding was undergoing a forensic audit. This reserve has been a hot bed of allegations of financial mismanagement. The audit uncovered enough evidence of criminal activity that 43 allegations of wrongdoing were turned over to the RCMP.
Immediately after word got out that I was responsible for accountability on the reserves I was literally bombarded by grassroots natives from all across Canada. The files I received number in the hundreds, while well over 200 cases of mismanagement have been reported by the media.
As I travelled in Canada from reserve to reserve the stories were the same. The chiefs and councils have mismanaged money, so there is no place to live and, in some cases, no clean water to drink. The squalor, suicides and despair were absolutely sickening.
In addition, I have had hundreds of cases brought to me concerning election irregularities. The election practices were clearly flawed and corrupt.
The list of problems goes on and on, but to be fair I must point out that not all reserves are this bad. Many of them are very good. However, unfortunately the majority of them fall into this category.
As we held accountability summits across Canada I met a lady by the name of Leona Freed from the Dakota Plains First Nation. Since we first met she has set up the First Nations Accountability Coalition which represents approximately 5,000 grassroots people from coast to coast.
The First Nations Accountability Coalition wants grassroots aboriginal people in Canada to work together to ensure that their rights to equality, democracy and accountability are protected and enhanced. They have tried to solve their problems by working with the department of Indian affairs, but in most cases the problems have simply not been recognized. They feel their only recourse would be the appointment of a first nations ombudsman.
The first nations ombudsman would be similar to the auditor general in that he or she would serve as an impartial and independent investigating officer. With this as the mandate, I had the legislative drafters create a bill to meet the grassroots objectives and that is what is before us today.
Since the bill was first introduced there have been a number of cases reported, as well as organizations and individuals who have recognized the same problems of lack of accountability on the reserves.
There is simply no point in mincing words. In 1998 and 1999 the federal government will spend $6.3 billion on special programs for aboriginal people. The total benefit for status Indians on reserves is estimated to be $19,903 per person. While the amount spent is massive, there is often little in the way of accountability on how the funds are disbursed. Much of the money ends up in the hands of the wrong people, while poverty on aboriginal reserves remains the norm. Mismanagement and fraud have become standard practices.
Some of the most notorious examples follow. At the Saulteaux Band in Saskatchewan, Chief Gabe Gopher's honorarium and travel expenses totalled $171,000. In 1997 about $600,000 was spent on travel by chief and band council. This band had accumulated a deficit of $1.2 million as of March 31.
The second example is that of the Poundmaker Band in Saskatchewan. Chief Ted Antoine made some $200,000 in salary and benefits, while his brother Duane, a band councillor, pulled in salary and benefits of $149,000. The total band population is only 1,000 people and the accumulated deficit of the band is $1.8 million.
Then there is the Stoney Band in Alberta, where the chiefs and councillors received $1.4 million in salaries and benefits, ranging from about $65,000 to $160,000 per year. The total band population is 3,300 people. The unemployment rate on this reserve is 90%.
At the Samson Cree Band in Alberta, the chief and 12 councillors are paid $1.5 million in salaries and benefits. The total band population is about 5,000 people. The unemployment rate is at 85%, while 80% of the reserve is on welfare.
At the Tlaoquiaht Band in B.C., Chief Francis Frank's salary and benefits totalled $109,000 in 1997. He resigned in December of that year. There were only 500 to 600 people living on the reserve. An auditor who was called in to look at the band books was unable to express an opinion on the financial statements due to inadequate record keeping with reserves, in particular with respect to expenditures and payroll. Most of the reserve population is unemployed.
The pay levels of chiefs and councils are incredible, given the horrific economic conditions and unemployment rates which exist on many reserves. What it demonstrates is that often it is those who have the power who also get the lion's share of the benefits.
Over the past 30 years at least $60 billion has been spent by the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development to create a myriad of programs exclusively for aboriginal people. What is the result of spending all this money? One-third of aboriginals on reserves live in overcrowded conditions. Over 50% of the aboriginal children live in poverty. The infant mortality rate is twice as high for aboriginal children as for other children. Alcoholism, suicide, illness and crime rates are three times higher than they are for the non-aboriginal population. About 25% of Canada's aboriginal bands are being run under remedial management plans, with the combined debt of bands being $139 million. A department survey of 300 band councils found that the most common problem was lack of control and conflict of interest.
With all of these problems, what recourse is there for band members when chief and council squander their money? The people have gone to the RCMP in many cases. They have overcome the fear of reprisal. That is what happens in a lot of cases. If they cannot overcome that fear and bring some of this information forward, they have a tough time.
They have asked chief and council where the money has been spent. Tony Pascal, a band member from Vancouver, said:
The way I see it is Indian Affairs just calls natives who raise such issues liars. They don't realize we are the people who live with and witness our allegations.
A group from the Shuswap Band even tried to initiate an investigation into financial matters on their reserve with the RCMP's criminal investigation unit. Xavier Eugene, a former chief of the Shuswap Band, said:
We actually thought we might succeed but as we went along we found out there are many blocks to our pathway. Primarily these blocks were and are caused because of DIAND's antiquated policies regarding accountability of fiscal reporting. They require very little documentation to satisfy band council's requirement as being accountable to the grassroots members of the bands. The only prerequisite that DIAND has is that they must satisfy chiefs and council and not necessarily band membership.
The previous minister called for partnership. Partnership is what is going to work. The problem is that the people have been left out of the partnership. The band council only audits what it chooses to audit and that seems to satisfy the government.
I have had a forensic accountability study made of the books of a number of first nations. They would corroborate Mr. Eugene's statement. So much is not accounted for, but the department allows this to go on. The bigger problem is that the band members have gotten hold of the books and there has been clear mismanagement of money. They decided to go to the RCMP but that is where the investigation seems to end.
In correspondence between my colleague the member for Skeena and the commissioner of the RCMP, in not so many words the commissioner has stated that the all clear must be given by DIAND before an investigation can begin. I have that in a letter from the commissioner. Where does this leave grassroots aboriginals? Where are they supposed to go next? If they cannot go to the police and get any results and if they cannot get any results from DIAND and if they cannot get any results from the chief and council, where do they go? That is their question.
This resolution will solve that problem and provide an answer to their question. It has been their hard work that has been approved by thousands and thousands of grassroots natives across the country.
I think the Liberal government would be interested in knowing that I have in my possession an authentic letter that is addressed to all concerned citizens of the Hollow Water band. It is signed by the former and present elected leaders of the Hollow Water First Nation. The letter reads: “We have been involved in illegal and corrupt acts in the finances and management of the Hollow Water band, Hollow Water Corporation, Housing Authority, Band Welfare and other affiliates”.
It is a letter in writing signed by three chiefs in an apologetic manner about all the corruption. This letter was taken to the RCMP, but absolutely nothing has been done. That letter was written in 1994. The letter has been taken to the police and nothing has been done. Even when the people admit to their crime nothing is done and today the band members suffer more than they ever have.
I visited North Bay and was at a meeting for six hours. I heard stories of nepotism, favouritism, the doling out of funds for things like housing and post-secondary education. Some complaints were gut wrenching.
Eva Pitt is 72 years old and nearly blind. Her husband is 74 and he suffers from a heart problem. She has tried continuously for three years to get the Nipissing First Nation to install a sewer line to her house. She would like to have some running water as well, but they do not have that either. Even today there is still no sewer line.
Anne McLeod told of her sister-in-law dying in the back of a truck because there is no ambulance service for medical attention on her reserve. There are older ladies who have witnessed this for many years, but it is the helplessness and hopelessness that has attacked the youth on these reserves.
Judge Reilly from Alberta on September 22, 1999 released a report about the suicides on the Hobeema reserve. It begins with the story of Eric Johnson. On the day he killed himself, Eric Johnson walked home along a deserted dirt road and hugged his mother at the kitchen table before he went to the basement to hang himself. He spoke what turned out to be his last words, “I love you, Mom”. Eric was 12 years old. A few days later he was buried in a cemetery down the road from his mother's home on the Samson Cree reserve, on the prairie south of Edmonton. His mother put his teddy bear next to his white cross.
One week earlier in a house just a few minutes away 17 year old Lee Soosay had hanged himself as well. He stood on a chair and tied a shoelace to the rafter in his bedroom. Then he kicked the chair aside. His brother found him hanging with the little red Bible on the floor near his feet.
In a period of less than eight weeks last spring, four young men committed suicide on the Samson Cree reserve. Their deaths added to the grim suicide stats for young native men who have killed themselves at a rate that has been estimated up to 10 times the national average. I have sat with mothers in tears on these reserves. One mother has lost three sons to suicide because of the hopelessness and the helplessness that they feel.
According to Judge Reilly there are clear reasons for this heartbreaking epidemic. The report said the blame should be laid at the feet of corrupt native leaders and misguided federal bureaucrats who have created a legacy of despair. Judge Reilly said:
There was an outrageous combination of greed and ignorance that destroyed the culture of the youth's reserve and made success virtually impossible.
The reserve was a place of helplessness and hopelessness that he was unable to leave because of a history of dependence that was imposed on their people. Not only do vested interests divert money that should be going to help the poor members of the reserve, but I also believe that they deliberately sabotage education, health and welfare programs, and economic development in order to keep the people uneducated, unwell and unemployed so that they can be dominated and controlled.
Judge Reilly said that testimony from the reserve members had left no doubt that leaders had pursued a systematic but unspoken plan to break the reserve culture for their own benefit. The judge said:
A member of the tribal council spoke of a proposed development plan that was opposed by one man (a chief) because he did not want to allow the opportunities for employment that it would create. He testified at length as to the repression of Stoney people as a form of control, and said that tribal income is spent on social services, instead of economic development, as part of a deliberate policy of keeping people dependent so that they can be controlled. He volunteered his theory that controls lead to the depression that leads to suicide.
The deaths of these boys was due to a long history of mismanagement and the politics of self-interest that had created an atmosphere of despair and denied them the services and programs that were supposed to support them. Judge Reilly's report noted that the number of drug and alcohol related deaths on the Stoney reserve was at least 10 times the Canadian national average.
Yolande Redcalf, yet another case of despair, came to me just two weeks ago. Yolande Redcalf completed a 44 day hunger strike protesting the poverty and the housing shortage on her central Alberta reserve. The hunger strike was due to the fact that she had to share a rundown house with 14 relatives. She watched her diabetic aunt drive four kilometres each day to fetch drinking water that smelled like sewage. She saw her people trudge along the same potholed gravel road that has been the reserve's main thoroughfare since it was built in 1944.
Redcalf said she ended her hunger strike after Sunchild band chief Harry Goodrunning promised that two new houses would be built on the reserve before winter. I think the new minister had something to do with correcting this situation and I applaud him for that.
I had some documents brought to me which list the social welfare payments on the Alexander reserve. There were payments of made of $300, $400, $500 and $600. Suddenly there was one for $8,000. Then there was another one for $9,000. I asked the people who produced these documents why the payments were small, yet there were two that were very large. They produced two more documents. Both of the individuals had been dead for 13 years. They produced their death certificates. My question was who was signing the cheques.
I went with the band members to the RCMP. We delivered these documents in person. The RCMP looked at them and said they looked very suspicious and that it should be investigated. It was taken to the police in commercial crimes. Two months later they phoned back and said there would be no further investigation. When I asked why, there was no answer. One of the RCMP officers, who will remain unidentified, alluded to me that what went on in Ottawa was very strange because there was obvious evidence and somebody had said to drop the investigation, just drop it. That is very suspicious and I do not like the sound of that.
The auditor general, as we know, has been asking for ages to bring some accountability to these reserves. Every year for the six years I have been here that has been his plea.
The First Nations Accountability Coalition is growing every day. Leona Freed is still desperately looking for solutions. She has made a statement that we all should hear:
We, the grassroots people have nowhere to go for help! Indian affairs is the problem! Their henchmen are the chiefs, who if they are good little Indian people, are rewarded with no accountability. We need a native ombudsman who is not controlled by the chiefs. I have gone across the country and I can say, everybody is scared of chiefs and everybody is scared to deal with native issues, including our native politicians. And I can also say, Canada is not a democratic country when our government will allow third world conditions to exist on our first nation reserves. If our first nations communities were democratic and if Indian affairs was accountable to parliament, there would be no need for a national accountability coalition.
In conclusion, I would like to pay tribute to Debbie Neepoose, Greg Twoyoungmen, Roy Littlechief, Edwin One Owl, Yolande Redcalf, Eva Pitt, Anna McLeod, Laura Deedza, Floyd Minifingers, John Chiefmoon and especially Leona Freed. These native people are living in the most dire straits. They are seeking a solution. They have unanimously across the country asked for the House to provide them with an ombudsman they can go to with allegations that will be addressed, to try and put an end to this tragic life on the reserves.
Let us put our political differences aside and solve the real problem of the dire straits of those in the human race who are suffering dearly.
