The expenditure of public funds should be a matter of record, whether it is for infrastructure, MPs’ expenses or the salaries of First Nations chiefs and councillors. Bringing such matters out in the open lessens the potential for extravagance and abuse.
Last week, the federal First Nations Financial Transparency Act became law, requiring every First Nation to post salaries for elected officials by midnight July 29. A week later, the majority of First Nations, including those on Vancouver Island, have not yet filed reports.
Whether the non-compliance stems from the bureaucratic tangles or defiance of the legislation is not clear — the measure has not been popular among First Nations leaders, who bristle at the Victorian tone of the new law. There will probably be some wrangling between some First Nations and the federal government, which says it will use court orders to enforce disclosure.
The salary of one B.C. chief has attracted national attention after his salary was posted on the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada website. Ron Giesbrecht, chief of the tiny Coquitlam First Nation, was paid more than $900,000 in 2013-14. His chief’s salary is $4,800 a year, but he is also the economic development officer, for which he received a salary of $80,000 and a bonus of more than $800,000, his commission on more than $8 million worth of construction contracts in which his band is involved.
The band received $8.3 million from the provincial government, but an official refused to give details, saying it was the result of an economic benefit agreement. The government does not disclose details of such agreements without the consent of the First Nations involved, the official said.
When governments are involved in economic development projects, some confidentiality is required, especially during negotiation stages. But when the money has been paid, it should not be the recipient’s choice whether to make the information public. In fact, it should not be the choice of either side, but should be standard procedure to disclose such information. As has been written in this space many times, it is the public’s right to know how its money is spent.
First Nations leaders are concerned that the financial-disclosure law will reinforce unfair stereotypes of chiefs living in luxury while many band members live in poverty. Giesbrecht’s income certainly feeds that perception, as do other salaries.
For example, Doug White, former chief of the Snuneymuxw First Nation in Nanaimo, earned a tax-free salary of $108,022 in 2013-14 as well as nearly $25,000 in expenses. By comparison, Nanaimo Mayor John Ruttan, who presides over a much larger entity than the Snuneymuxw First Nation, earned $84,370 in 2012.
But it’s the glaring aberrations that get the spotlight. Less likely to get attention are chiefs and councillors receiving more modest remuneration. Charlie Williams, chief of the Gwawaenuk Tribe near Port McNeil, for example, received a salary of $33,225. Don Tom, chief of the Tsartlip First Nation headquartered in Brentwood Bay, and his predecessor, Ivan Morris, received a combined salary of about $23,000 in the past year.
If the new law uncovers abuses of the public trust, that will be useful, not as an excuse to point fingers at First Nations, but as a tool for people to hold their elected leaders accountable.
As experience in the B.C. legislature, in Parliament and in the Senate has shown, when the spending of public money is hidden from the public, a few will take advantage of the situation. Spending tends to be more reasonable when it’s out in the open for everyone to see.
