Anonymity hurts us all

When we post or write letters anonymously, it hurts us all. We realize how difficult it can be, to put yourself out there and put your name to your thoughts and concerns, but it's very important that we start to change the culture of fear of reprecussions. Only when we start putting our names to things, are concerns and issues taken seriously. No one should feel like they have to submit letters anywhere under "Anonymous". No one should have to feel afraid for their jobs or housing situations, or being labeled a trouble maker. It is not making trouble to show concern and stand up for the future of your children and community. It's responsible. We no longer operate our community under the traditional way, where everyone gets a say on important decisions. No, we operate our government under the Indian Act, which promotes distrust and breeds corruption. If we no longer have a say at the table then it's up to us to SPEAK UP about our concerns. How else are they going to get addressed? Before anyone gossips or labels anyone else a trouble maker, please consider where that comes from. Is labelling or gossiping a part of our culture or is it something we've adopted since we no longer govern ourselves traditionally? Shouldn't the people in the community get to feel like they have more of a say? Wouldn't you want to contribute more and participate more if you felt like your opinion actually mattered to somebody? I just want to encourage people not to write anonymous letters. They get swept under the carpet and ignored, when they should be taken up and addressed. If other people feel the same they can support you. No one can support an Anonymous person, but everyone can and likely WILL support you if you put your name to your concerns. Chances are, you're not the only one who feels that way.

Miigwech

Shawna

Some Things Never Change

Over the past few months i have been reading and repairing the scrapbooks of one of our Elders. I my self have been keeping my own for 30 years. Some thing i can  give my children . After reading what was in the papers the past 50 years it can make you feel happy, sad, and so very proud. We had more community spirit back then a togetherness,  we don't have now. The elections were all ways covered by the local papers. More jobs and homes were the big issues. not transparency and accountability Chiefs were all ways up front gaining the respect of the people. all these years later we still need affordable homes, jobs .  But most important we need to get    that        community spirit back.

Take A Stand

Its time for the people of this First Nation to take a stand and speak out. Its time that the Chief and Council start to listen to the band members. For to long we have been left out  and have not had any in put as to out future, and the future of our children. Why are people afraid to speak out , i here to often that we cant we will loose are jobs, i here to often that they have just given up, and that's sad. It is time for the gag orders to go . You go to a meeting and the council say nothing time to be leaders .Its time for every one to be treated the same, Chief and council are not above us ,there needs to be a balance here. The money that the Band has is the money of all Band members and we should have a say in how it is spent not after the fact.We should have a say in what we want but you must speak out .Look at the big picture and think of your children what do you want for them if we don't what kind of life will they have here?

And here's Today's WTF

Article published in Orillia's Packet & Times newspaper, on Saturday March 12, 2011:
Rama First Nation feeling the pinch
Rama First Nation is tightening its belt in hopes of weathering the global economic downturn that has now reached its doorstep, says Chief Sharon Stinson Henry.  At a mandatory staff meeting held at the MASK arena in late February, Stinson Henry announced cost-saving measures all band employees would be required to follow.  Vacation time will be capped, sick time reduced and cost-of-living raises abandoned.  Stinson Henry said chief and council had led by example by taking a 10% pay cut.  She also announced a "voluntary resignation program" for current employees where they could resign in exchange for three weeks of pay per year of service.  "Everybody just sat there and nobody said anything," band member Jennifer Jewell said of the audience's reaction.  "Where did our money go?  It didn't really make any sense."  Jewell, who works occasionally at the Gathering Place stores in Casino Rama, said staff were told the economy and Rama's loss of the 35% Casino Rama revenue case were to blame for the financial crunch. 
Some band members would like to have more say
"What prompted it quite frankly was the downturn in the global economy that is affecting not only Rama First Nation but all governments at every level," Stinson Henry said Friday.  The six-term chief also noted the loss of the 35% Casino Rama revenue case having a strong impact on Rama.  A portion of the band's money comes from Casino Rama, a lucrative resort casino established on the reserve in 1996.  In a 20-year agreement inked between Casino Rama and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation in January 2010, the Chippewas of Rama were allotted a 1.9% share of gross revenues from the casino starting August 2011.
In the first year of the new agreement, Rama First Nation's cut will be approximately $8.8 million, up from $5.8 million under the old arrangement.  But in July 2010, Rama's appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada to receive 35% of Casino Rama's revenue in perpetuity was denied, meaning $180 million held in escrow was released to other First Nations.  Cheryle Snache, who manages Rama's food bank, said the root of the problem goes beyond the economy and the 35% casino revenue loss.  "I think that they've always had the attitude that the pot was never going to run dry," Snache said.  Expensive salaries, bad investments, costly severance packages, travel expenses, and even clothing allowances are the problem, she said.  "All those things, I think, are unnecessary," Snache said.  "I don't think that kind of stuff should happen.  We need to be investing in the community needs."  Both Jewell and Snache would like better communication between chief and council and band members on financial issues.  Jewell said they do receive financial updates regularly, but there is little opportunity for discussion on solutions.  "I think communication always plays a good role in solving problems.  Better communication, not just one way where we're getting information - we want to be involved," she said.  Chief and council do hold semi-annual financial reporting meetings where they present audited financial statements to their members, Stinson Henry noted.  The next meeting will take place in April.  Snache agrees that community members should have more say in possible cost-saving measures.  "On- and off-(reserve) members have good ideas on what we should be doing with our money, but we're not listened to.  Maybe if we had been listened to, things would have been different."  Feedback from the February staff meeting has been good, Stinson Henry said, adding that the response for the voluntary resignation program has been very positive.  She could not say how many people applied for the buyout.  "Rama is in a good position.  We're just being fiscally responsible here looking into the future," she said.

By Doug Cuthand, Special to The StarPheonix March 11, 2011

For the past month or two we have been watching the ongoing phenomenon of the relentless march of democracy.We are currently watching the change occur in the Middle East. We have witnessed earlier South America and parts of Africa move from army strongmen to the legitimacy of elected leaders. While the march toward democracy is becoming a worldwide movement, in Canada we are now pathetically out of step. Our House of Commons has been reduced to a shouting match, and the Prime Minister's Office is turning Canada toward one-man rule. First Nations governments in Canada actually are no better. They, too, have power concentrated in the hands of a few who meddle and micro-manage every aspect of reserve life. The time has come to move from the vague concept of self-government to a more tightly defined First Nations democracy. Up to now, First Nations elites have pushed for self-government. The Department of Indian Affairs, a.k.a. the Colonial Office, has been happy to oblige by transferring to the First Nations governments its problems and underfunded programs. This is not self-government. It's self-administration. This form of neo-colonialism is so obvious that it jumps out at you. It's a colonial regime's way of ditching a problem and blaming the victim. Technically Africa has self-government. The colonial powers left, and dumped all the problems on the local governments. Today, they wash their hands of responsibility and smugly blame the victims. First Nations governments in Canada fell victim to the same strategy. Indian Affairs dumped self-administration on First Nations, and transformed Indian governments into Indian agents. This is not true democracy. Band councils control reserves, appoint school boards, and run and micro-manage business development. Every aspect of life on a reserve has the band council's fingerprints all over it. The same holds for the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. Operational boards run by chiefs should be turned over to experts; meanwhile, chiefs should sit on policy boards, which is closer to their role. Historically it was necessary to stress the role of the chief and council. Following the troubles of 1885, many of the bands that allegedly were involved weren't allowed to have a chief. In the case of the Beardy's band, it was without a chief until the 1930s. Indian Affairs ran the show, and the chiefs and councils had virtually no legitimacy. Part of the political organizing process included the strengthening of the office of the chief and council. As a result, all the political leadership on a reserve comes from the chief and council. In spite of this perceived power and self-government, the Colonial Office still wields power through administrative blackmail and third-party management. The chiefs must bow to accountability to Indian Affairs, at the expense of accountability to their people. Using underfunded budgets and stretched resources, band councils find themselves doing INAC's dirty work. Virtually nothing is developed on a reserve today without the blessing or direct control of the band council. Councils decide the makeup of the school board, appoint and fire trustees, and micro-manage all the band's businesses and activities.
I remember going to a hockey tournament once and finding three band councillors coaching the team. I asked if there wasn't anything they didn't manage. It was a joke, but you get the point. Because band councils have taken on so much responsibility, we end up with a low success rate. Micro-managed businesses tend to fail. Politics mixed in with the education system is a recipe for disaster, and independent bodies such as boards of trustees are viewed with suspicion. The time has come to put the band councils in their place. They can't be all things to all band members. A line has to be drawn, and it's doubtful that it will be done voluntarily. The responsibility to run things must be spread around with independent school boards, health boards and independent business development. The role of government in the economy is to create a positive climate for business to succeed, not to run businesses into the ground. First Nations can get involved in business the same way other governments in Canada do -by creating a "Crown corporation" to implement public policy. When a project or opportunity is too big for an individual company, then the band council should get involved and make the project work. But it has to stay away from day-to-day decision making. In Saskatchewan, the government owns the electric utility, the telephone system and an insurance company, but it keeps an armslength distance from their daily operations. The government provides overall direction, but that's it. Our future success depends on an attitudinal shift by our leaders, including local chiefs and councils, tribal councils and the FSIN. So far the current approach has almost cost us the loss of the First Nations University of Canada. What will be the next crisis? It's time that we looked beyond self-government to First Nations democracy.



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Time to adopt democracy for First Nations

Time to adopt democracy for First Nations

Rama FN Members call for audit amid financial crunch despite casino

TORONTO-Members of the Chippewas of Rama First Nation, home to a lucrative casino, are calling for a forensic audit or RCMP probe after learning their community faces a cash crunch.  In an open letter obtained by The Canadian Press - titled "Where did all the money go?" - they say they do not understand what happened to millions of dollars in casino revenues.  "This reserve is in trouble," the letter signed by "Worried Band Members" states.  "How is this possible?"  In a 20-minute speech two weeks ago, Chief Sharon Stinson Henry stunned a community forum when she said the 1,500-member band was feeling the global economic downturn.  All band employees would forgo cost-of-living raises, see vacation time capped, and sick time slashed, Stinson Henry said.  She also announced a buyout plan in which employees could resign in exchange for three weeks of pay per year of service.  "It was just silence," band member Jennifer Jewell said of the reaction at the forum.  "There was no chance to ask questions in front of everybody.  I think there was a fear that the meeting could have got out of hand with people getting upset."  In a leaflet, the band administration explained it had to "significantly" reduce spending, and that layoffs might be necessary if cost cutting fell short.  In an interview Wednesday, Stinson Henry rejected suggestions of a fiscal crisis, saying the community was "in great shape."  The six-term refused to discuss budget figures but said a pending decline in casino revenues has prompted "a good hard look" at the fiscal future.  "We want to operate on a balanced budget," the six-term chief said.  "That's just exactly what we're doing."  She would not say how many of the 400 band employees had applied for a buyout nor how many council was hoping to grant in an effort to trim the band's estimated $24-million payroll.  Feedback to the proposed measures was "very positive," she added.  Over the past 15 years, the casino has raked in about $5.5 billion in gross revenues and profits of a $1.5 billion, with a sizable part of net revenues going to the band.  "Since the casino opened in 1996, it has generated hundreds of millions of dollars for our community," the open letter states.  "Yet now we have nothing to show for it."  The letter questions whether fraudulent activity had occurred.   Jewell, who works occasionally in reserve stores, said she supported the call for a forensic probe.  "They mismanaged our funds and they're blaming it on the economy," she said.  Stinson Henry said the financial statements were audited annually and available to band members.  Some Rama members said they were afraid to speak out for fear of being ostracized but Cheryle Snache, who manages the reserve food bank, blamed the financial crunch in part on failed business ventures.  She also criticized general salaries and perks along with severance packages for council members.  "It just been mismanagement of funds, band investments, all these high-paying wages," Snache said.  The chief did announce that she and the six council members, who each make more than $100,000, would take a 10 per cent pay cut as part of the austerity drive.  In 2008, the Ontario government looked into about $3 million in payments Casino Rama had made to a First Nation that did not officially exist.  In addition, millions that were meant to help lift First Nations out of poverty went to legal fees and other expenses.
THE CANADIAN PRESS.