Bulletin #4

Trail of Tears Campaign
405 Alfred Ave. Winnipeg Manitoba, R2W1X7

An Epidemic of Malfeasance: Canada’s Auditor General Agrees!

Why the Trail of Tears Journey Began

I, Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth, of the Peigan Tribe within the Blackfoot Confederacy, decided to take this journey to raise awareness of what my People have experienced and to learn if other First Nations across Canada were having the same kinds of experiences as we were, back on Blackfoot territory.

Beginning about 15 years ago, my People suffered a huge hit to “who we are as a People” when the Oldman River was dammed up. We have always regarded the River as Sacred to our cultural identity. Before the dam was built, a network of groups tried to protect the Oldman. These Aboriginal, environmental, faith and other groups eventually ended up in the Supreme Court of Canada in 1992. Although the dam was not stopped, the damage done by the dam to Peigan culture and way-of life was affirmed by the courts. As a result, the governments of Alberta and Canada gave the Peigan a sizeable cash settlement in payment for that loss ($64M). In the past few years, a large chunk of this was taken from my People by fraud.

This fraud happened because of apparent corruption and incompetence among some of our representatives in tribal government, as well as apparent massive deceptions and shortcomings among the consultants, financial institutions and Indian Affairs officials who were supposed to be acting “in our interest” in regards to the flow and investment of these funds. Closing the proverbial barn door after the horse is out, in December 2005 Indian Affairs declared our Band Chief and Council election to be invalid. The Peigan First Nation was put under Third Party Management by Indian Affairs.

Since I have been away on this Trail of Tears Journey, my family tells me that the situation for the poorest of the poor in my home community has become worse. Anger and frustration at our situation is to be found everywhere among our People, especially our youth. This outside influence of polarization – this divide and conquer strategy – is affecting my People very much.

An Epidemic of Malfeasance

“Malfeasance” is a very special word. It means corruption by a public official. In place of the old smallpox blankets and residential schools, we now see a new deadly epidemic emerging: Canadian government takeover of our First Nations governments, through Third Party Management. The trouble is that it was Indian Affairs policies – including apparently overt negligence – that led to the crises for which Third Party Management is presented as the solution. This all amounts to malfeasance of the worst kind.

Auditor General of Canada is Concerned

The AGC’s report of May 2006 speaks for itself in supporting the rationale and objective of the Trail of Tears campaign:

“According to numerous sources, including the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples, Canada's First Nations communities face persistent challenges such as high rates of unemployment, poverty, and health problems. The federal government is responsible for fulfilling treaty and fiduciary responsibilities to First Nations people—lawful obligations that arise from treaties, the Indian Act, and other legislation. It is also responsible for delivering to First Nations communities social and economic programs that can directly improve the lives of the people living there—programs similar to those provided by the provinces, territories, and municipalities elsewhere in Canada. However, even though the federal government spends billions of dollars a year—just over $8 billion in 2004–05—on 360 programs and services targeted to Aboriginal peoples that address issues such as housing, health care, education, and economic development, the conditions in many First Nations communities and of many Aboriginal peoples remain significantly below the national average….

“Overall, the federal government's progress in addressing our 37 recommendations on First Nations issues has been unsatisfactory. While the issues are extremely complex, [five] federal organizations had agreed with most of our recommendations and had committed to taking action….

“5.13 Overall, we were not satisfied with the progress made … We found that they made unsatisfactory progress in implementing 15 recommendations—generally those most likely to improve the lives of First Nations peoples. Although progress in implementing 22 recommendations was satisfactory, implementation was not complete for all but 3 of them. These 22 recommendations tend to be more administrative in nature and to have less direct impact on the lives of First Nations people…

“5.27 We found that some of the recommendations that would likely make a significant difference in the lives and well-being of First Nations people and Inuit were not being implemented or that progress was unsatisfactory. These include recommendations on conducting prescription drug use analysis and analyzing prescription drug-related deaths, developing a strategy and action plan for addressing mould in houses on reserves, eliminating unnecessary reporting required of First Nations communities, implementing land claim agreements, and addressing gaps in the Third Party Manager Policy [emphasis added]…

“5.47 When a First Nations community delivering a program or service under a funding arrangement with Indian and Northern Affairs Canada fails to meet its obligations, the Minister has the right to intervene. At the highest level of intervention, the Department selects a third party to take over the management of the funding arrangement until the problems are resolved. In 2003 we identified various deficiencies in the Department's administration of the third-party management process. One of these was the lack of a strategy for building the capacity of First Nations management to end third-party management (emphasis added - ed).

“5.48 We recommended that the Department address missing elements from its Third Party Manager Policy, adopted in 2003—namely, provision for a dispute resolution mechanism, building of capacity of chiefs and councils, and provision for First Nations input in the third-party manager selection process.

“5.49 In this audit, we found that the Department has not revised its 2003 policy. Instead it has proposed to have provisions for these missing elements in a new policy expected in April 2006. Similarly, the Department has not evaluated the effectiveness of third-party manager intervention as we had recommended. As such, the new policy being developed does not benefit from a formal evaluation of the third-party management process. Further, the present policy still does not include a strategy to build the capacity of First Nations management to end third-party management (emphasis added - ed)…

“5.55 The federal government's success in implementing many of our recommendations has depended in large part on the capacity of the First Nations to carry out the implementation of programs in their communities. In our chapters in housing on reserves, third-party intervention, and economic development, we noted the need for more effective capacity development of First Nations. The government agreed with our recommendations and has started to work with First Nations to develop the institutions required to provide them with the technical support they need to deliver effective programs. Federal officials we interviewed stressed the importance of capacity building and development as a means to improve delivery of programs…

“5.62 Federal organizations have made unsatisfactory progress in implementing almost half of our recommendations, generally those addressing issues having the greatest impact on the lives of First Nations people and Inuit. These include recommendations on… addressing gaps in the Third Party Manager Policy.”

See: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/20060505ce.html
See
also: http://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/*20031110ce.html#ch10hd3c
(November 2003, Chapter 10)

INAC is Not Qualified to Manage First Nations

INAC has all the mighty power of the state behind them. They vest this power in our IA Band Chiefs and Councils, many of whom who are not prepared for the work they have in front of them, as the Auditor General of Canada has pointed out. This feeling of omnipotence explains why INAC was so unwilling to include investigation of themselves in the terms of the Public Inquiry they offered me in July 2006 (see Bulletin #2).

Apparently INAC feels invincible enough that they can choose not to respond to the Auditor General of Canada on serious issues like this. We can therefore be certain INAC will not change on the first push by one Blackfoot leader. As described in the next TOT Bulletin (#5), corruption, mishandling of funds, negligence and incompetence are what is being seen and felt in First Nation communities. We must build a movement to change things.

In God’s name, you came.
In the Great Spirit’s name, we have always been.

Lonefighter Leader Milton Born-With-A-Tooth