Bearspaw First Nation, which includes Eden Valley, handed out more than $1.1 million in salaries and other costs to its chief and members of band council in 2008-2009.
Information received by the Western Wheel shows three members of the Bearspaw First Nation band council received more than $100,000 in compensation between April 1, 2008 and March 31, 2009, including salary, travel and other expenses. One councillor received more than $300,000 in salary and travel expenses.
The news comes on the heels of a report from the Canadian Taxpayers Federation showing more than 600 First Nation politicians earn a taxable equivalent salary of $100,000 to govern reserves with an average population of 1,142 people.
Federation spokesperson Scott Hennig said there is a serious lack of transparency regarding salaries for band councillors and chiefs. It’s difficult to obtain salary information, he said, and what is usually released doesn’t include much data.
“That’s the one big problem, is there’s a huge lack of transparency,” he said. “This information isn’t made public.”
Hennig said most of the highest salaries were seen in Alberta.
“Of those who had a salary greater than the Prime Minster, there’s about 50 across the country on reserves and 32 of those are in Alberta,” he said.
Chief David Bearspaw received a $30,701 salary and $21,224 in travel expenses with four months in the position. Band Coun. Gilbert Francis received $138,720, including travel; Coun. Gordon Wildman received $318,062, including $132,084 in travel expenses and Coun. Roderick Lefthand received $244, 107, including $102,217 in travel expenses. Any money earned by band councillors on the reserve is tax exempt.
Band spokesperson Melodie Creegan said salaries for the current band council were in place before they came into office.
“Everything does get reviewed and it is a collective process within the nation,” she said.
Creegan said salaries for all First Nations employees, including chiefs and band councillors, are set through collective agreements determined by tribal councils.
Hennig said the bottom line is people on reserves have the right to know how much band councillors earn so they can make the best decisions when voting.
They set up a web site www.reservetransparency.ca to help band members across Canada in their attempts to obtain salary data.
Hennig said another concern is high travel costs. He said there is often little information available to explain whether high travel costs were legitimate.
“We don’t know how much of it is receipted, legitimate travel… and how much is honorarium for attending meetings,” said Hennig. “We don’t know how they set it up.”
He said there shouldn’t be any comparison between what an elected official, either from a municipality or a band council, earns and the salaries of executives in private corporations.
Rather, when looking at salaries he said it’s appropriate to compare band council salaries to what mayors and councillors earn in municipalities of a similar size.
In comparison, the Mayor of Black Diamond, a community of about 2,000 people, earns a base salary of $900 per month or just $10,800 per year while councillors earn $700 per month or $8,400 per year. Mayor and council also earn a per diem for meetings they attend which ranges from $50 for a four-hour meeting to $100 for a full eight-hour day.
Genevieve Guibert, Indian and Northern Affairs spokesperson, said band councils are responsible for determining their own salaries and compensation.
“It’s up to the First Nations membership to decide if these levels of compensation are appropriate or not,” she said.
Guibert said the department does not disclose information regarding salaries for elected officials for individual first nations to the general public.
“The federal government cannot disclose this information to the Canadian public, but of course the members of First Nations do have a right to see those documents,” she said.
Guibert said salaries are part of First Nations’ financial statements, which are not disclosed under the privacy act, previous court decisions and the terms of funding agreements between the government and First Nations.
She said First Nations councils can decide on their own if they want to make band council salaries public.
