Smile, Now

"With all due respect to Harper and to everybody else, I don't think they've been in power for 34 straight years."
"To be ... the leader of a nation, and we're not just a band, we are a nation, and to lead it for 34 years, is something totally unheard of, I don't care in what political field you're in."
Dean Martin, Shuswap First Nation spokesperson, chief executive officer of Kinbasket Development Corp.

shuswapnation.orgChief Paul Sam

Well, if one is to equate the B.C. Shuswap First Nation with Burkino Faso, then there too is a 30-year political dynasty. Only in Burkino Faso the citizenry has erupted in defiance at the continued rule of a dictator who thought he could go on forever. Now, evidently, it's the turn of the Shuswap First Nation councillors to do the same, and it seems that Barbara Cote and Tim Eugene, candidates for next month's election plan to do the very same -- without burning any parliament buildings.

The thing of it is, the entitlements that the leading family have accustomed themselves to without the knowledge and consent of the band itself do seem somewhat out of whack. Shuswap First Nation Chief Paul Sam, now 80, has a tax-free salary averaging $264,000 over the past four years. Altogether, with his ex-wife, one of their sons and a grandson, the family took in over $4.1-million over the past four years.

There are 267 members of this band. Of whom 87 live on the reserve. The chief's son, Dean Martin, has had an average annual salary of $536,00 over that same time frame, in running a band corporation operating various businesses on and near the reserve. Shuswap members are not quite happy about the situation. "We had no idea. We are absolutely disgusted" said Barbara Cote, a band councillor earning $57,700 annually; not bad at all for a councillor of a band with 87 people living on the reserve.

The office of Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard Valcourt had this statement: "Our government expects First Nation band councils to use taxpayer dollars responsibly and for the benefit of all community members." Evidently some community members have been without water and electricity in the winter months, but the band council was unable to give them any assistance.

The two contenders for the election emphasize their interest in reforming council's affairs in the area of disclosure and a greater fund distribution to cover education and culture programs, child care and home renovation. How novel. Christy Clark, the premier of British Columbia earns a salary of $193,532 in comparison.

Prime Minister Harper earns $327,400, an amount that Chief Paul Sam and his wife Alice Sam were able to match handily in some years of their long administration. But according to the band media relations spokesman Gord Martin and Dean Martin, their parents' hard work and longevity justify salaries higher than that of a prime minister.

As for Dean Martin, in 2010-11 he had a take-home pay of $765,651. Unfortunately that fell to $431,549 for 2012-13. Federal Aboriginal Affairs and Health departments ponied up $900,000  in 2013-14 for the band. Another son, Randy, yet another councillor, had earned $301,241 in 2011-12. Sadly, during a trip to Las Vegas in 2012, he died.