Manitoulin Wild owes $170 K to Kenj-Teg  

School administrator Robert Beaudin resigns and the team for sale  

by Michael Erskine  

M'CHIGEENG-Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute's involvement in the Manitoulin Wild Junior A Hockey team officially ended on April 1, 2004, but the repercussions from that involvement will likely run on for several years to come.

 Included in the fallout of that involvement has been the resignation of the school's executive director, rigorous new financial controls and signing procedures, and an investigation into the financial situation at the school being conducted by the Sudbury Ontario Provincial Police detachment. The owners' of the team are currently entertaining offers to purchase the franchise.

 After numerous interviews with most of the major players in the saga, a fairly complete picture of how it all came to pass seems to have emerged.  

Kenjgewin Teg first became involved with the team when Robert Beaudin, executive director of the school, agreed to have Kenjgewin Teg act as an administrative conduit for the team.  

The long-term plan for the educational institute has always been to establish a First Nation college, a post-secondary institution run for, and by, the First Nations, he explained. It was his hope that the Manitoulin Wild would form the core of an athletic program for the school. Hockey, representing such a fundamental part of First Nation athletic culture in Northern Ontario, seemed to be a natural fit for the institute.  

The Wild themselves were in need of an 'official' entity to front their organization. There is no officially incorporated charter that comes with the purchase of a Junior Hockey franchise. According to Art Yeo, commissioner of the Northern Ontario Junior Hockey Association, that is likely more the norm than the exception across the country.  

"I think that most of the clubs in our league are registered as not-for-profit corporations," said Mr. Yeo.  

In the case of the Manitoulin Wild, no formal structure was put in place.

"I guess it's my 1950s kind of attitude," said Larry Leblanc, president and 'majority owner' of the Wild. "We had a gentleman's agreement, and I figured that was good enough."  

At least one other member of the original group also believed that was the way these things were done.  

Mr. Yeo had asked all NOJHL teams to indicate to him who is in control of their operations. As of press time Monday Mr. Yeo said that he had not heard back from the Wild.  

But the challenges facing the Manitoulin Wild bid began even before the team was officially purchased: two of the original partners who were to purchase the team backed out at the 11th hour.  

"That really left us in a bit of a bind," said Larry Leblanc, who along with Tim Labelle of Long Lac are the team's two remaining owners. "But we saw it as such a good thing. Maybe we rushed to get it here a little too much."  

Ownership of the Manitoulin Wild was unclear, noted Mr. Leblanc, until Kenjgewin Teg definitively declared they had no equity interest in the team.  

"Until we had a statement from them," he said, "I wasn't sure myself. They have decided that they don't want to be a patron of the team."  

On November 24 Kenjgewin Teg issued the following statement: "While the board of directors of Kenjgewin Teg wishes success to Manitoulin Island's Junior A Hockey franchise, Kenjgewin Teg is not an owner of this hockey club."  

The original arrangement, claimed Mr. Leblanc, was entered into with the best of intentions.  

The hope, he said, was to establish Kenjgewin Teg and the hockey team in the tradition of St. Michael's in Toronto.  

There is a freeze on new Junior A franchises in the league, and if the group hoping to bring a Junior A franchise to the Island wanted to get in the game, they had to buy an existing team.  

The Rayside Balfour Sabrecats were up for sale, and it was decided to proceed with the $31,000 purchase of that team, even in the absence of the other investors, in the hopes that they could be replaced with other partners in a timely manner.  

That didn't happen.  

"It was brought to the attention of the board of directors that Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute funds were used to help the hockey club in the past," reads the board's press release. "The board of directors at no time authorized the use of funds to support any hockey club and considered this a serious breach of trust."  

So it appears that in the meantime, money collected for the Wild, including the partners' payments for the initial purchase of the team (in at least one verifiable instance), revenue from sales of merchandise, moneys received for players releases to other teams and advertising on rinkboards and arena walls went into Kenjgewin Teg's bank account. That revenue totaled, as of April 2003, $117,186.31.  

Unfortunately, money to pay for the Wild's expenses also came out of Kenjgewin Teg's bank accounts, to the tune of $284,536. The resulting deficit of $167,350.09, in the meantime, became a serious burden for Kenjgewin Teg to carry.  

The current amount that Kenjgewin Teg says is owed to it by the Manitoulin Wild is "$169,000 and change," according to Mr. Simon. But the issues stemming from the organization's involvement in the Wild went far beyond the monetary impact.  

"For a long time worrying about the Wild was the major occupation around here," said Kenjgewin Teg Chair Dan Simon. "We had a lot of people doing work for the Wild during office hours. That has stopped."

 Once the board became apprised of the situation in early October through its auditors, he said, the board put in place steps recommended by the auditors to bring the matter under control.

 One of the operational changes instituted by the board after the Monday November 22 meeting with KPMG (Kenjgewin Teg's auditors) was a complete separation of the institute from any Manitoulin Wild operations.  

"All payments on behalf of the Wild stopped in April," said Mr. Simon. "As of now we don't pass on messages, we don't take phone calls, nothing to do with the Wild goes through our offices. What people do on their own time is their own business, but when it comes to what they do here, they are to concentrate on Kenjgewin Teg business."  

Rumours have been circulating in the M'Chigeeng First Nation community about the fate of approximately $70,000 in funds held in trust by Kenjgewin Teg for M'Chigeeng Minor Hockey. Those funds represent the proceeds from the Little Native Hockey League (Little NHL) tournament which was hosted by M'Chigeeng in Sault Ste. Marie.  

The Little NHL funds were 'a completely separate issue' in the audit, noted Mr. Simon, and a schedule of repayments to the M'Chigeeng First Nation has been set up to ensure those moneys are not in jeopardy.  

M'Chigeeng band council has passed a BCR (band council resolution) demanding the Little NHL funds be returned to the band.  

"That money represents three years of the band's contributions for Little NHL," said M'Chigeeng Chief Glen Hare. "It's a great amount of money, $71,000, we spend $20,000 every year on Little NHL. We wouldn't see hockey come to our table for three years."  

Although Chief Hare said he understands that there is a repayment schedule in place, he remains concerned.  

"I will wait until I see the first cheque," he said.  

In the meantime, the chiefs have gone the extra step of asking the Sudbury detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police to investigate the matter to ensure there was no criminal activity involved.  

"Just given the amount of money, $170,000, that's why we called in the police to investigate," said Chief Hare.  

Given close family ties between the UCCM Tribal Police administration and that of Kenjgewin Teg, and taking into account the long-standing good working relationship between the UCCM Tribal Police and the OPP, and especially the need for the process to be seen as completely unbiased as possible, it was felt that asking an agency outside of the Island community would be important to instill public confidence in the results.  

The issue with Kenjgewin Teg for the chiefs is also the tip of an iceberg. Large numbers of arms-length corporations have been established in First Nation communities over the past few years. They operate with boards of governors appointed by chief and council, but without the chief's traditional direct input; consequently, many are concerned these organizations are 'running amok.'  

"I don't like corporations," said Chief Hare. "They do tend to take off in their own direction."  

Meanwhile, the community expects chief and council, and especially the chief, to be in control of what is going on in band institutions.  

"At the end of the day, it is the chiefs who are responsible (in the eyes of the band members)," said Chief Hare. "And at the end of the day, decisions should include the input of the chief into the board. I should have the information. The band expects us to know-we should know!"  

A lot of good can come out of using the corporate structure, said Chief Hare, but the organization of that structure has to integrate with the traditional governance structure expected by band members.  

"We have to find a way to work together," he said.  

The eight-member Kenjgewin Teg board of directors that met with the auditors to determine what had transpired had only four of its original members in place. Fully half of the board members were attending their first meeting. It was, noted some members, a very difficult baptism.  

"We considered this situation very seriously and made the difficult choices we had to as board members to restore our organization's financial health and to regain the trust of our community members," said Mr. Simon.  

That confidence has been shaken to its very core, noted Wikwemikong Chief Robert Corbiere.  

Although the band's new representative on the Kenjgewin Teg board, education portfolio holder Hazel Fox Recollet, assured the board that Wikwemikong was not pulling out of the organization 'at this time,' the chief and council remain very troubled by what has transpired.  

"Until we know exactly what is going on," said Chief Corbiere, "our affiliation is still questionable. Although we are not pulling out as of today, all kinds of questions remain unanswered."

 The results of the police investigation are expected to play an important role in answering some of those outstanding questions.  

Robert Beaudin, the former executive director of Kenjgewin Teg who resigned in the wake of the audit results, maintains he has done nothing wrong, and, certainly in the criminal sense, Kenjgewin Teg board members appear to agree.  

"We did not see the need to call in the police on this matter," said Mr. Simon. "That was a decision taken by the chiefs."  

The audit, he suggested, gave no indication of any criminal intent or motivation for self-profit by any of the boards' employees.  

Still, the unauthorized use of funds did represent a "serious breach of trust," reiterated Mr. Simon.  

It was a breach that has affected all of the employees of the institution. In the aftermath of the Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute audit, two staff members have taken a voluntary lay-off, while the rest of the staff are working on a four-day rotating schedule to help put the organization back on a secure financial footing.  

Brenda Francis is currently acting as interim executive director, and she is expected to fill that role until the end of the fiscal year, March 31, 2004. In addition, Mr. Simon said, new signing authorities and procedures have been put into effect.  

Mr. Leblanc, in the meantime, said he has been under considerable personal pressure as a result of his involvement with the team, and with his health taking a toll from the stress of these event, he and his minority partner are currently in negotiations with prospective buyers for the team.  

"There are a lot of things going around, I know," he said. "But I have put a lot of my own money into this. My love of hockey got me into this. We all believed it was a good thing for Manitoulin. Believe me, this is not the type of thing you get rich at. I have been involved in hockey for 35 years; it's the kind of thing that gets into your blood."  

Mr. Leblanc pointed to a number of what he said were inaccurate statements reported in Expositor stories about the Manitoulin Wild in recent weeks that have been very galling to him.  

"We get a lot of questions in the community," he said. "It doesn't help when there are things in the paper that aren't right."  

Mr. Leblanc provided recent examples of inaccurate information.  

"Sam Nardi said there were no owners present at the meeting in a story last week," he said. "I was sitting right beside him! Why would he say that?"  

As to the gate-sharing arrangement between the Manitoulin Wild and the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands, Mr. Leblanc maintained that there was no formal arrangement.  

"There was no sort of agreement," he said. "We never had an agreement."  

The Expositor has had considerable additional input on the saga of the Manitoulin Wild and Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute, most of which has been delivered 'off-the-record' by various insiders, and as yet remains unverified from other sources. But the events and facts relayed in this story were either delivered on the record or were independently verified.  

MNR proposes wolf limit of two per hunter, trapper  

by Jim Moodie  

MANITOULIN-A new proposal to regulate wolf hunting wouldn't override a farmer's right to protect his livestock, but would impose a number of restrictions otherwise, including a closed season and the need to purchase a 'game seal.'  

"The rules that allow farmers to protect themselves from property damage still apply, but the days when you just walk into the woods and shoot a wolf are gone," said Steve Payne of the Ministry of Natural Resources (MNR).

 The new wolf strategy, announced last week by Natural Resources Minister David Ramsay, represents the first attempt to regulate and monitor wolf hunting on a province-wide basis. It proposes a closed season between April 1 and September 14; a $10 game seal that would have to be purchased on top of a small game licence; a limit of two seals (ie. two wolves) per hunter per year; and mandatory reporting by hunters of wolf and coyote kills.  

Manitoulin's wolf population primarily consists of coyotes, also called 'brush wolves,' pointed out local Conservation Officer John Diebolt, although the larger timber wolf (a family that includes gray and eastern wolves) can also be found in smaller numbers here.  

Both coyotes and wolves, however, would be subject to the same rules. "The proposed initial conservation actions also apply to coyotes in wolf range because coyotes are difficult to distinguish from wolves, especially eastern wolves, and failure to include coyotes will reduce the effectiveness of conservation actions designed to protect wolves," states the full MNR proposal posted at the Environmental Bill of Rights (EBR) Registry.  

According to Mr. Payne, the wolf "is perhaps the number one symbol of wilderness in Ontario and a vital part of biodiversity." He adds that "there isn't a domestic dog on the face of the planet that can't be traced back to the wolf."

 In the past, wolves were given much less respect. Shooting them from planes was permitted, and bounties were offered at both the provincial and municipal levels. Provincial bounties were outlawed in 1972, but some municipalities, including ones on Manitoulin, continued to offer bounties until the early 1990s.

 Since 1972, wolves have been protected under the Game and Fish Act, which provides the authority to establish licences and set seasons. But, as the EBR posting notes, "beyond the revocation of the bounty, no additional conservation action was considered necessary over the following years."  

Earlier this year, however, the province outlawed the hunting and trapping of wolves in and around Algonquin Park.  

In announcing these latest measures, "we are building on the steps already taken to protect the eastern wolf in the Algonquin Provincial Park area," stated Mr. Ramsay in a press release.  

Wolf hunting on Manitoulin isn't nearly as prominent as deer hunting, but it is something that has seemingly always occurred. The book Exploring Manitoulin includes a photograph of some 65 men with rifles on their shoulders and the caption: "The Barrie Island wolf hunt was necessary to protect valuable livestock."  

You won't find such massive wolf hunting parties these days, but some Islanders still shoot and trap wolves.  

Although he hasn't hunted wolves for the past couple of years, West End farmer Rudy Ford used to keep six Walker hounds for that very purpose, and he and a number of friends would go out each year on wolf hunts.

"I shot 37 one year with my dogs," Mr. Ford said, adding, "I have a picture of them on a pole."

Asked how he felt about the prospect that hunters might be limited to two wolves per year in the future, the farmer scoffed. "If I don't get two in a day, I don't go hunting. I've shot six or seven in a day."  

The notion of a $10 charge for a 'game seal' was even more infuriating to Mr. Ford. "It's just more 'jingles'-money for the government," he said. "I don't need no tag to shoot a wolf. If you ever catch me buying a tag to shoot a wolf, slap me on the side of the head."  

Mr. Ford doesn't hunt wolves for the value of their pelts, which is minimal; when he gets a decent pelt, he said he gives it to a neighbour who likes to tan hides.

 Nor does he do it, he said, for the sport. "It's not a sport. You're helping your neighbour," he said, pointing out that other farmers often ask him to remove wolves from their land.  

Bruce Wood, a cow-calf operator in Green Bay, also hunts wolves using hounds, although he's down to just two dogs now, and doesn't go out as much as in the past, because, given the current financial crunch for beef farmers, "I can't afford the gas for the snowmobile," he said.  

The typical method for wolf hunting, he explained, is to find wolf tracks in winter, put the hounds on the scent, and then dart ahead of them on a snowmobile to intercept the wolf as it's driven out of the bush. Wolves "go so far, and fast, and in circles, you really couldn't do it on foot," he said.  

One time, the farmer noted, he "tracked a wolf from my place right out onto the North Channel." His dogs are equipped with a collar that allows him to keep tabs on them using a radio tracking device.  

Like Mr. Ford, the Green Bay farmer believes it's important to control the local wolf population. "One time, I saw three (brush) wolves eating one of my calves as the heifer was giving birth to it." Mr. Wood hurried home to get his gun, and when he got back the coyotes were gone, as, needless to say, was his calf.  

Apart from shooting wolves, Mr. Wood also sets snares. One year, he said, "I snared five or six."  

He's seen the odd timber wolf, which he believes "come across the ice (of the North Channel) following deer," but mostly what he sees, and snares, are brush wolves or coyotes. "I had a timber wolf in a snare once, but it wrecked the snare and got away. You have to use a thicker cable for timber wolves," he explained, "but if you use that thick cable a smaller brush wolf will sense it and get out. They're a smart animal."  

It's difficult to estimate the number of wolves on Manitoulin, but Mr. Diebolt says that "we definitely have lots of coyotes," noting that, where he lives near Sandfield, "I'm hearing them two or three times a week." He added that coyotes are even more plentiful in the "pockets on the Island where the deer population is really high, like in the Kagawong and Gore Bay areas."  

Coyotes are a resilient species, the conservation officer said. "People have been trying to get rid of them for years, hunting them and trapping them, and we still have coyotes. If you put more pressure on them, they just seem to respond with larger litters."

 Timber wolves, he said, are more vulnerable to human pressure, but he said that these larger, more skittish wolves are rare on the Island.  

Mr. Ford, on the other hand, said that he's encountered quite a few timber wolves. "I know a timber wolf when I see it, and I saw one this summer that was the biggest I've ever seen. I have pictures here in the house of some I've got in the past. One time I got three weighing 70, 80, and 90 pounds, all in one day."  

Both wolves and coyotes prey on deer, of course, keeping the population of the latter in check. As Mr. Payne of the MNR puts it, "It's not a big jump to know that the more wolves you have, the less deer."  

Farmers understandably are concerned about the impact coyotes and wolves have on their livestock, but many also would like to see a deer herd that is healthy and of a manageable size.

Mr. Wood believes there were too many wolves in the past, and that the deer were consequently few. "When I hunted as a kid, it took five years before I even saw a deer. In 1978, I hunted all deer season, and saw only one track-of a fawn that a wolf was chasing."

 He believes the current abundance of deer is a result of "us controlling the wolves" through hunting and trapping. "We've been hunting wolves for the past 10 years, and now there's deer tracks galore. It's almost to the point where there's too many deer."

 And it's for this reason, as much as the fact that he can't presently afford the gas for his snowmobile, that he said he's "not hunting wolves now."

 Mr. Wood doesn't welcome government interference in the way local people have traditionally dealt with the Island's wolf and coyote population, and certainly doesn't relish having to pay for a wolf seal in order to shoot one. But at the same time, he agrees with the basic point of the new wolf policy, which is essentially to ensure a balance in the ecosystem.  

"You don't want the wolves to be overpopulated," he said. "But you also don't want to hunt them to extinction."  

MMA supports public ownership of Manor  

by Tom Sasvari  

MINDEMOYA-The Manitoulin Centennial Manor should remain a municipally-funded public organization, rather than going to privatization.  

That is the message the Manitoulin Municipal Association (MMA) has given in a resolution it passed at a meeting last week, concerning the future of the manor.

 "In a conversation I had with Kathy Deacon (CEO of the Manor), she said she would be happy if we put forward support from the MMA on our stance, and never become a private crown organization," stated Richard Stephens, MMA chair.  

Joe Chapman, mayor of the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands (NEMI), put forward a motion, "whereas the Manitoulin Centennial Manor is so important to the social fabric of Manitoulin Island, the Manitoulin Municipal Association wants it to remain public. Therefore the MMA supports public existence and funding of the Manitoulin Centennial Manor."

 "It may mean in the future we will all have to dig further into our pockets," said Mr. Stephens.

 "Whatever we need to do to keep it in public hands. There wasn't any thought at the meeting (manor board meeting last week) of allowing it to go to a private, crown corporation," said Mr. Stephens.  

It was suggested by Les Fields, reeve of Assiginack Township, that everyone would probably be in support of a two to three per cent increase in municipal requisitions to the manor, instead of a large increase of about 10 per cent in any one year.

"For NEMI we pay 30 per cent of the requisitions, so our contribution is $7,000. Increasing the requisition two or three per cent would mean $2,000-3,000 for NEMI. For some other municipalities, such as in the case of Gordon, it only means a couple of hundred bucks," said Mr. Chapman.  

"There is still a good private nursing home in Gore Bay," said Pat Best.  

Ken Noland, reeve of the Township of Burpee-Mills pointed out even with a two to three per cent increase, "even the smaller municipalities still pay the same percentage of taxes. It would mean the same hit for everyone, percentage-wise, on their budgets."  

Flawed ballot means new election for Birch Island voters  

by Michael Erskine  

BIRCH ISLAND-Whitefish River First Nation council candidate Julie Wilder got quite a shock when she went to cast her ballot in Saturday's polls to elect a new chief and council: her name was not on the ballot!  

"As soon as I noticed I informed the electoral officer," she said. "She (Martha Shawanda) immediately called the Indian Affairs election office and they told her to stop the election."  

The omission was noticed midway through polls, around 5 o'clock said Ms. Wilder.

 In a press release, Whitefish River First Nation Executive Director Don McGregor announced that the elections have been postponed until January 8, 2005.

 "The decision to postpone the elections came as a result of an error in the preparation of the ballots. It was discovered late in the day that a duly nominated candidate's name did not appear on the ballot. It was determined that in order to avoid the possibility of the election being set aside due to this error, the elections would be postponed and new ballots printed," reads the release.  

The decision to postpone the election was made by WRFN electoral officer Martha Shawanda in conjunction with advice from Indian and Northern Affairs Canada-Election unit. This election is the first for Ms. Shawanda as electoral officer.

 The current term for chief and council remains in effect until December 14, 2004. After the closing of polls on January 8, 2005, the ballots will be immediately counted and the newly elected chief and council will take office once the results are recognized as official.  

For herself, Ms. Wilder said she accepts that the omission was a simple error.  

"Marti did apologize for it right away," she said. "It was a legitimate mistake. These things happen."  

Ms. Wilder added that she has a lot of faith in the current chief and council and executive Don McGregor and that she is not unduly concerned about the delay.  

"Not much is happening around Christmas," she said. "Everything is in a festive mood, a lot of government offices are closed through the holidays. Everything will pick up again in January."  

She added that she is confident the current chief and council will put in place any critical decisions that need to be made in the intervening period before they leave office.  

"It isn't a 'crisis,'" said Ms. Wilder.  

Request for information can be directed to Executive Director Don McGregor at 285-4335.