Chief of 80 member Kwikwetlem First Nation earned $914,219 tax free last year

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Oops . . . . we're being ripped off as taxpayers. And just where was
Indian and Northern Affairs in this game?
Well, just look at pages 2 and 3 of this report, and you'll see.
$1,258,113. for this single native band for the past fiscal year. Wow.
Now we know where our tax dollars are going - big time.

http://pse5-esd5.ainc-inac.gc.ca/fnp/Main/Search/DisplayBinaryData.aspx?BAND_NUMBER=560&FY=2012-2013

Official Name: Kwikwetlem First Nation
Number: 560
Address: 2 - 65 COLONY FARM ROAD, COQUITLAM, BC
Postal code: V3C 5X9
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [phone]

Community Site Kwikwetlem First Nation
_______________________________________________________________

Registered Population
Official Name: Kwikwetlem First Nation
Number: #560

Registered Population as of June, 2014
Residency # of People
Registered Males On Own Reserve 22
Registered Females On Own Reserve 13
Registered Males On Other Reserves 3
Registered Females On Other Reserves 1
Registered Males On Own Crown Land 0
Registered Females On Own Crown Land 0
Registered Males On Other Band Crown Land 0
Registered Females On Other Band Crown Land 0
Registered Males On No Band Crown Land 0
Registered Females On No Band Crown Land 0
Registered Males Off Reserve 24
Registered Females Off Reserve 18
Total Registered Population 81
_________________________________________________________________

John Ivison | July 31, 2014 | National Post

Ron Giesbrecht, chief of 80 member Kwikwetlem First Nation, earned
$914,219 tax free last year

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It’s good to be the chief. Ron Giesbrecht, chief of the 80-member
Kwikwetlem First Nation in B.C., earned a salary of $914,219 tax free
last year and a further $16,574 in expenses.

That’s the equivalent of $1.6-million for someone who pays tax on income.

The band’s accountants, Richmond-based Reid Hurst Nagy, confirmed the
salary figure released as part of the government’s new First Nation
Financial Transparency Act is accurate and said a statement explaining
the remuneration package would be released by the Kwikwetlem band later
Thursday. Repeated calls to the band were met with a terse “no comment.”

The million-dollar chief is listed on Linked In social media as chief
and economic development officer. He has been chief for more than five
years and lists his interests as “fishing, aboriginal culture, golfing,
photography and sitting on the beach.”

The band’s most recent financial statements reveal that it had net
financial assets of $8.8-million, up from $2.7-million, largely as a
result of an $8.2-million payment from the province of British Columbia
earmarked for economic development and a $1.2-million payment by Quantum
Murray, an environmental services company.

A spokesman for the province said that the $8.2-million was payment as
part of an economic benefit agreement related to land sales.
Related

Paula Simons: First Nation chiefs’ salaries so high, they shocked
another aboriginal leader

Colin Craig, Prairies director for the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation,
said he is waiting to hear the full circumstances of the remuneration
package before commenting definitively. “But if that’s all pay, it’s
pretty egregious and one of the worst cases we’ve ever seen.”

Andrea Richer, communications director for Aboriginal Affairs minister
Bernard Valcourt, said the government expects band councils to use tax
payers dollars responsibly and for the benefit of all community members.

“The First Nations Financial Transparency Act applies the same
principles and requirements that already exist for all other elected
officials in Canada,” she said. “The reported salary of the chief is
very troubling and his community members deserve an explanation.”

The band received $673,000 from the department of Aboriginal Affairs
last year and a further $298,000 from CMHC, the Crown housing corporation.

The federal government’s legislation came into being after an outcry
four years ago, when a taxpayers’ federation survey revealed 82
aboriginal reserve politicians were paid the tax-free equivalent higher
than Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s $315,462 salary.

The survey also said 222 First Nations politicians earned more than the
premier of their province and 700 took home more than the equivalent of
$100,000 in off-reserve income. One band chief in Atlantic Canada earned
$216,130 in salary, $34,000 in per diem travel expenses and other income
totaling $978,468, including contracts for work by his construction
company — all for running a band of 300 people.

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Followup to this story: members of this band want their million-dollar
chief GONE.
Who says 'openness doesn't breed accountability'?
_____________________________________________________
The Globe and Mail - August 1, 2014


Band members call for chief's removal


Total salary of almost $1-million paid to leader last year sparks
outrage in community

Members of the Kwikwetlem First Nation are demanding their chief resign
and an immediate audit be conducted over revelations his total salary
amounted to almost $1-million last year.

Figures released under a new federal law showed Chief Ron Giesbrecht was
paid an $800,000 bonus, and band member Ron Jackman said late on Friday
that at least half of the small First Nation of 80 people stand behind a
call to remove Mr. Giesbrecht from office.

Mr. Jackman said the group wants Mr. Giesbrecht gone by next Friday or
it will hold an emergency meeting of the band to remove him.
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"There's been outrage because people are struggling and he's kept
$800,000 for himself," said Mr. Jackman, adding that he stepped forward
to speak for those opposed to the chief.

He said band members knew the money came into the community as a result
of a business deal, but did not know that much had gone to Mr. Giesbrecht.

Mr. Jackman, a 39-year-old band member and student at the B.C. Institute
of Technology, said that in June, members of the community were mailed
$10,000 cheques as part of that deal.

The financial statements of Canada's First Nations began appearing on
the Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs website this week for the first time
as a result of the new transparency act, which received royal assent in
2013. The First Nations Financial Transparency Act was a response to
concern that some band members could not obtain financial information
from their leaders. It requires First Nations to submit audited
financial statements on all band revenue and expenses.

The disclosures revealed that Mr. Giesbrecht, chief of the small first
nation near Coquitlam, B.C., was paid $914,219 last year, including the
$800,000 bonus calculated as a 10-per-cent cut of economic development
investments.

Mr. Giesbrecht said on Friday that he was surprised by the bonus. The
community said Mr. Giesbrecht is paid $4,800 annually as chief, and in
his role as economic development officer, he was entitled to a
10-per-cent commission on profitable business ventures.

"Whoever thought the bonus would be this much? I tell you, I never would
have," he is quoted as saying in Tri-Cities Now.

Mr. Geisbrecht told the suburban Vancouver newspaper the community had
six projects on his watch, including an $8.5-million contract linked to
a mass transit line.

The chief did not return requests for an interview by The Globe and
Mail. However, he told Global News he is talking to his members. "This
story is important to me, as I have to answer to my people."

While the paycheque revelations have led to outrage in Coquitlam,
another B.C. chief was left fuming over a process he regarded as unfair.

The reports show that Osoyoos Indian Band Chief Clarence Louie, often
praised for his business savvy by the Conservative government, was paid
$146,369 last year. The high-profile leader said it is unfair of the
government to publish a total that combines his chief's salary and
income related to his work with the band's companies.

Mr. Louie said his pay as chief is about $18,000 a year. He has asked
his accountant to produce a breakdown of his compensation so he can
better answer questions about it. In addition to being chief, Mr. Louie
is the band administrator, and is CEO of the Osoyoos Indian Band
Development Corporation.

"You shouldn't be combining my salary [as chief] with the other jobs I
do," he said in an interview, comparing it to forcing a small-town mayor
to disclose private business income.

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with disclosing what the taxpayers
call tax money, but First Nations' self-generated income is not tax
money," he said, arguing that the latter should be accessible only to
band members.

Andrea Richer, a spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs Minister Bernard
Valcourt, said that members of a First Nation should have access to
details of how businesses are run on their behalf.