M'Chigeeng referendum will verify status of off-reserve councilors

Political fate of three newly elected band councillors hangs in the balance

by Jim Moodie

M'CHIGEENG-Three M'Chigeeng First Nation band councillors could be removed from office if the community chooses to enforce a rule requiring that elected officials live on the reserve.

On December 19, band members will have a say, via referendum, on whether to uphold or change the residency stipulation, as set out in the First Nation's custom election code.

"We're putting it to the people to see if they want to affirm the rule that's in there," said Chief Joe Hare. "If they don't, then it would be repealed."

Section 11(1)(f) of the election code mandates that "a councillor, upon being elected, must take up primary residence on the M'Chigeeng First Nation reserve within 90 days of assuming office." At present, three still haven't.

M'Chigeeng band members went to the polls to elect the current chief and council on September 12, meaning that the three-month period for any non-resident member to relocate is fast expiring.

Of the 10 councillors elected in mid-September, a trio of them-Kevin Eshkawkogan, Charles Beaudin and Henry Panamick-make their homes off the reserve. Mr. Eshkawkogan lives in Little Current, while the latter two dwell just outside the reserve boundaries, near Manitoulin Secondary School. It's a neighbourhood that may seem like a M'Chigeeng suburb but is technically part of Billings Township.

Chief Hare said the issue of non-resident councillors was raised shortly after the election. "Some community members wrote letters or phoned me," he said. "So it was put on the agenda for council to discuss, and the decision was made that we should clarify this."

Band members are being asked to voice their opinion by mail-in ballot or by visiting the polling station at the M'Chigeeng complex on December 19.

If a majority chooses to uphold the election code requirement, the three councillors quartered outside M'Chigeeng proper would have to promptly move onto the reserve, said Chief Hare. Failing that, "they would be ineligible to be on council." In that event, a by-election would be held to replace them.

Andrea McGraw is one community member who feels strongly that the rule should be maintained and enforced. "I wasn't the one who made the election code, but those who did weren't thinking lightly when they made it," she said.

She worries that a vote to scrap the residency requirement would create a slippery slope. "This is just the start of it," she warned. "Maybe next year we'd have someone from Sudbury, and the next year somewhere farther away."

The Corbiere decision of 1999-in which the Supreme Court ruled that excluding off-reserve band members from participating in elections is inconsistent with the Charter of Rights-has opened up the electoral process to many people who don't live on the First Nation, she noted. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, it makes it all the more important, in her view, that controls are kept in place to ensure a local commitment among those chosen for office.

"Our band members live everywhere, so we have to draw the line or run the risk of a runaway chief and council," she argues in a statement she submitted to the Expositor. "This reserve of M'Chigeeng is too precious to me to run that risk."

Councillor Beaudin, whose life is rooted in the community, feels it would be unreasonable to disqualify him from his council position simply because his home is a few hundred yards beyond the border of the reserve.

"I've always lived in this community, and I work right here," said the councillor, whose job is as manager of the Castle Building Centre-a M'Chigeeng enterprise with which he's been employed for 21 years. "It's not like I live in Toronto."

His decision to live outside the reserve proper isn't a case of being unpatriotic, he said, but pertains to his family situation. "My children aren't First Nation, and my wife's not, so I have to live off reserve," he said. Otherwise, "if something happened to me, my family would have to leave."

His connection to the First Nation remains strong, though, both by proximity and pedigree. "I still have Anishinabek blood and everything," he noted.

He feels it's equally unfair to expect Mr. Panamick, a neighbour as well as a fellow councillor, to pull up stakes. "Henry was on council the last two years, and nobody brought up the fact that he was off the reserve. I don't see why either of us should have to move."

If the community decides that the residency rule must be enforced, Mr. Beaudin-who has served on council in the past, under former chiefs Stuart Roy and Glen Hare, as well as Joe Hare-said he would be unlikely to comply with the policy. "I don't think I'd move my family over a council position," he said.

For Ms. McGraw, it's not a question of character or competency among the councillors in question, but rather ensuring that a precedent isn't set that could lead to problems down the road. "I'm not saying there's anything wrong with Robert or Henry," she stressed. "They're good guys. But there's a principle at stake here."

If council members are allowed to live in other communities, she feels attention to local concerns will suffer. She also worries about the level of accountability among people who don't have a direct connection to the place they have been elected to represent.

"I don't think people realize that once you set this in motion, it doesn't take that long for it to run away from you," she said.

She also feels that "the honour of representing this First Nation should be important enough to councillors that they want to reside in their home community."

Chief Hare indicated he has mixed feelings on the issue, and was reluctant to express a personal preference for either scenario. "I don't think it's fair for me to advocate one way or the other," he said. "And I'm not sufficiently convinced one way or the other."

He does feel, however, that it's important for the community to reach a decision on this matter, as there is lingering confusion over the rule and the extent to which it should be enforced.

"Some people may have voted believing that these councillors would move to the reserve, since the rule is already there, and they know about it," he said. "Some may not even be aware that the rule is there. Or they may want them regardless of where they live. It's up to this community to decide."

Asked if the rule could be tweaked to allow for elected representatives to serve if they maintained a home within a specified proximity to the reserve, Chief Hare suggested this would be a tricky distance to determine.

"Then the argument becomes, how long should the radius be?" he said. "Is it 10 miles? All of Manitoulin? Where do you draw the line?"

The issue is not confined to M'Chigeeng. Chief Hare noted that, during his tenure as grand chief with the Union of Ontario Indians, there were instances in which "a chief would live in Thunder Bay, 100 miles away from their reserve, with the argument being that they needed to be in the city to do business."

And across the province "there is an emerging trend of people wanting to help run the reserve and live elsewhere," he said, adding, "I don't think that's healthy."

The question is how to control that scenario. "To me, I guess you need the rules, but common sense is the way I tend to go," said Chief Hare. "It makes sense to me that if I'm the chief, I should live in the community."

DNA_tests indicate Asian carp moving into Lake Michigan

Lake Huron also risks invasion of voracious bottom feeder

by Jim Moodie

CHICAGO-This week, the US Army Corps of Engineers is strewing a fish-killing chemical in a Chicago shipping canal in an attempt to freeze the advance of Asian carp, but many suspect that the big voracious fish has already busted its way into Lake Michigan.

In late November, results of tests conducted by US scientists revealed that the foreign nasty-known to grow as big as four feet and 100 pounds-had evaded an electrical barrier meant to keep the intruder from the Great Lakes.

Asian carp DNA was found within 12.8 kilometres of Lake Michigan-to which Lake Huron is connected, minus any type of natural divide or control mechanism-and just 1.5 kilometres shy of a navigational lock that represents the final hurdle between the Mississippi River system, where the carp have become an established menace, and the world's greatest freshwater resource.

The fish, imported to the US about 30 years ago from Asia, is famous for not only out-eating indigenous sport species, but jeopardizing the safety of humans by leaping across the bows of boats and personal watercraft. In 2003, a jet-skier broke her nose and nearly drowned after being struck by one of these portly projectiles.

Beginning today (December 2), the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal will be shut down for several days as the corps of engineers conducts scheduled maintenance on one of the two electric barriers meant to keep the invader at bay. But since the other barrier isn't felt to be foolproof in stopping juvenile carp from getting through to Lake Michigan, a fish toxicant called rotenone will be applied to the canal as a type of chemical warfare on the carp until the fish-zapping fences are back in order.

While this tactic may prove effective in halting anything-including non-carp species-from moving upstream towards the Great Lakes this week, environmental groups and defenders of the Great Lakes fishery fear that irreversible damage may have already been wrought.

The announcement that Asian carp, based on DNA evidence, had already breached the electric fence, came as "sobering, but predictable" news to Henry Henderson, director of the Midwest program of the Natural Resources Defense Council in the US. In a press release issued in late November, he complained that "federal and state agencies have known about this problem for 13 years, but have utterly failed to act with the urgency that this threat requires."

Mr. Henderson, who also served formerly as commissioner of the environment for Chicago, hopes this wakeup call will finally result in more concerted action, if it's not already too late.

"The prospect of 100-pound fish...leaping out at boaters in the Great Lakes should spur action that should have been undertaken years ago," he stated. "We have seen how zebra and quagga mussels have literally transformed Lake Michigan, and I fear that the Asian carp could do far worse to the ecosystem."

The Army Corps of Engineers, in his estimation, "needs to stop reacting to events, and get ahead of this problem with real solutions. Physical barriers in the waterways need to be put in place quickly, along with a clear plan to move aggressively toward closing off the Chicago Diversion and returning the ecological barriers that used to protect the Great Lakes from these threats."

Chicago may seem a long way from Little Current, or even Sault Ste. Marie, but if the Asian carp does establish a presence in Lake Michigan, there would be little to stop the ravenous invader from swimming-and munching-its way north and east.

The carp are capable of consuming 40 percent of their body weight in plankton per day-an appetite and rate of intake that would come at the expense of native fish species and spell potential ecological disaster for Huron as well as Michigan, since the two function as a single waterbody.

UOI's Pat Madahbee predicts nasty

fight if HST_imposed on First Nations

by Jim Moodie

ONTARIO-First Nation leaders are vehemently opposing the harmonized sales tax (HST) that is set to take effect in Ontario this July on the grounds that it violates their sovereignty and entitlement to tax exemption.

"One nation can't tax another nation," argued Pat Madahbee, grand chief of the Anishinabek Nation, which represents 42 Native communities in Ontario. "This is part of the treaty promises as well, in return for access to our resources."

Those resources, once the uncontested purview of First Peoples, have allowed Canada to become "one of the best and richest countries in the world," pointed out Chief Madahbee, so it's unreasonable to expect First Nations, many of which are saddled with issues of low employment and poverty, to contribute more now through a cash grab at the checkout counter. "We've prepaid our share," he asserted.

The HST, which will blend the provincial sales tax and the federal GST for a 13-percent hit at the tills, was introduced in the Ontario legislature in mid-November, catching First Nation leaders off guard.

"We thought we were still in the negotiation stages," said Chief Madahbee. "We got the word just a few days before they tabled the bill."

The McGuinty government says it has asked Ottawa to respect the point-of-sale exemption on the provincial portion of the blended tax for First Nation people making off-reserve purchases, but so far the Harper Tories are refusing to incorporate that strategy into their HST plans.

"The province is blaming the federal government for not doing anything," said Chief Madahbee. It's an argument he finds a bit rich, however, given that "the province had the chance to work this out in an agreement" prior to passing off the decision-making to Ottawa, not to mention stands to receive $347 million from Ottawa this year in transfer payments.

"There's a ping-pong match going on between the federal and provincial governments, and neither is working to find a solution," complained the Anishinabek Nation leader.

In his view, "it's not a big stretch to continue what has always been practised" with regard to the proposed new tax. "If there is a change, they're planning on changing all the cash registers, so it's not a big deal to put in the (software) program" to allow for a deduction. "It's not a question of technology."

Instead, the federal government is "saying they'll look at options like a rebate or child-tax credit" to lessen the burden on First Nation consumers, noted Mr. Madahbee. "But who is going to save every receipt? And if you're on a limited income, are you going to be able to afford to wait six months for a rebate? It's craziness."

The chief said the harmonized tax "only favours big business," and will be hurtful not only to members of First Nations, but to consumers and small business owners within non-Native communities as well. "It's not going to help the common man," he contended.

The plan would not only combine the 8-percent PST with the 5-percent GST, but extend the reach of the provincial tax to a host of new goods and services, including hair cuts, electricity, accountants' fees, and funerals. Certain items will be exempt, including children's clothing, books, diapers, car seats, and feminine hygiene products.

Newspapers, like the one you're reading, were recently added to the list of HST-free products-with the exemption to apply to both subscriptions and single-copy sales-as were fast foods under $4 like sandwiches and coffees.

Demands for public hearings on the HST proposal-voiced quite dramatically at Queen's Park last month by opposition MPPs (three of whom were ejected for unparliamentary language)-have so far fallen on deaf ears.

Premier Dalton McGuinty maintains that the single sales tax will boost the economy by creating jobs and boosting business in a beleaguered manufacturing sector, while Ontarians of modest means will be compensated, in the short term, for the extra burden they might experience at the tills.

The province is committed to making cash payments totalling $1,000 to families earning less than $160,000 and payments of $300 for individuals earning less than $80,000 per year. Ontario will also offer ongoing tax credits to low-income families, worth roughly $260 annually to those who qualify, as well as drop personal income tax rates.

The premier has said that public hearings on the issue aren't something his government will consider, but that voters can pass judgment at the polls in 2011.

Chief Madahbee and his counterparts among other regional First Nation groups aren't going to wait that long to make their voices heard. "Moreso than ever, this is an issue where First Nations have to draw a line in the sand," said Chief Madahbee. "It opens up the floor to the erosion of other rights."

Early this week, representatives of all 134 First Nations in Ontario were to meet at an assembly in Toronto (from December 1-3), and Chief Madahbee expected the HST issue to be high on the agenda.

"It affects all of us, on and off reserve," he said. "There's a lot of mad people."

A similar harmonization of federal and provincial tax is being pushed in British Columbia, he noted, so the issue is resonating among tribes on the West Coast as well. "They're going after the two provinces with the highest populations of First Nations people," he said.

The Anishinabek Nation has launched a postcard campaign, with residents of member nations urged to send a message to both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Premier McGuinty, demanding that they "respect First Nations' treaty rights on tax exemption."

Chief Madahbee said this is just one of several tactics being employed to challenge the HST plan. "It's one of a whole number of things," he said. "We have groups going to Ottawa, and some of our technical people working with provincial technical people."

With the blended tax not slated to come into play until July 1, Mr. Madahbee believes there should be sufficient time to make sure First Nation rights are respected, whether that means having the scheme scrapped altogether or ensuring that exemptions are built into the new system. But he doesn't expect the issue to be resolved any day soon.

"It's going to be an ongoing dispute, for sure," he said. "I don't have a crystal ball, but I think it's going to be a long, protracted fight."

FLU FILES

No more clinics, so book appointment for

seasonal, swine shots

by Nancy McDermid

MINDEMOYA-The Sudbury District Health Unit (SDHU) has decided that at this point it is not planning any further mass community clinics to administer H1N1 vaccinations on Manitoulin Island.

The SDHU in Mindemoya is providing the H1N1 vaccine, as well as the seasonal flu vaccine, by appointment. This week, the health unit office will be open for extended hours of 1 pm-7 pm today and tomorrow (Wednesday and Thursday), so that those who work can drop by after finishing their shifts.

These vaccines are also administered by local health-care providers and are now available to the general public.

Tina McKinnon, a public health nurse at the SDHU in Sudbury, stated that "the process is ever evolving. We are making the best decisions at the time with the best information we have. Right now we are wrapping up school clinics and shifting to having health-care providers deliver the vaccine as well as the local health units."

Health-care providers such as those at the Mindemoya Medical Clinic have been administering the vaccine and now have the seasonal flu vaccine available to the regular public as well.

Lori Oswald, office manager at the clinic, reported that the seasonal flu shot was first given to those 65 and up but is now widely available for those that are rostered at the clinic and who have set up an appointment to receive it. Patients who are not rostered should go to the SDHU.

The clinic has been very busy and the staff has worked hard to serve 400-500 patients who have received the H1N1 vaccination in a series of 12 clinics or in a regular appointment with their doctor.

"In order to streamline the numbers of patients needing the shot we kept these clinics to the H1N1 vaccination only," explained Ms. Oswald. "The doctors have also designated individuals to work under medical directives in order to complete the vaccinations. The public has had a positive attitude overall and this has helped to make the process run more smoothly."

The next phase at the SDHU, according to Ms. McKinnon, is "the delivery of the seasonal flu shot." A round of public clinics has not yet been scheduled, but it is expected that these will be available in the new year.

Meanwhile, "we will be receiving further direction from the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care as to how we will be proceeding in the future in regards to the H1N1 vaccine," said Ms. McKinnon.

Santa and his wife were the main attraction at Saturday's Little Current parade. Boys and girls patiently waited until the parade's end to have their photos taken with Mr. and Mrs. Claus-and possibly whisper a wish list or two into the jolly old elf's ear.

Editorial

Afghanistan torture allegations require serious scrutiny

Here are some observations about senior diplomat Richard Colvin's allegations that, in 2006-2007, the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan, part of the NATO forces attempting to help establish the basis for a democratic tradition in that country, handed over presumed terrorist prisoners to Afghani police and military after Mr. Colvin had advised senior diplomatic personnel that these people would likely be tortured:

¥ In spite of the new whistleblower legislation, such an action will in all likelihood be career-ending for Mr. Colvin. His motivation in going public with these allegations is clearly not premised on self-interest;

¥ The Canadian military mission in Afghanistan has, basically, a year to run. Even if Canadians stay on there past 2011, there is every reason to believe that it will be in a far more advisory capacity. With just a year to run, it would have been far easier for Mr. Colvin to have waited until sometime in mid-2011 to air his concerns. Again, his timing says much about the level of concern he must feel;

¥ A significant triumverate (among others) has lined up to do everything except label Mr. Colvin a liar. They are: Defence Minister Peter MacKay; former (now retired) chief military man Rick Hillier; and very senior diplomat David Mulroney (Mr. Colvin's boss in 2006-2007 when Mr. Mulroney was head of the Afghanistan Task Force) and current ambassador to the People's Republic of China (where Prime Minister Stephen Harper is scheduled to visit very soon).

Notwithstanding Mr. Colvin's career, there is very much at stake here and his every instinct as a diplomat must have warned him of the perils of such a public demonstration, especially at this time. This will be bound to somewhat taint the legacy of the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan as it begins to wind down the vigorous role it has had since 2003.

Then there is the prime minister's upcoming visit to China where he has been encouraged to express concerns about human rights abuses in that country.

Since Mr. Colvin's statements imply that knowledge of the abuses that were likely to be visited on prisoners Canadian soldiers turned over to Afghan authorities had been communicated by himself to cabinet office and senior diplomatic levels, does this somewhat rob the prime minister of the right to express polite outrage at another nation's human rights abuses?

Mr. Colvin's inferences are very serious ones and must be taken as such by Canadians and a Royal Commission must be struck, and struck immediately, to trace Mr. Colvin's allegations to their roots.

Were it not for the fact that Mr. Colvin is throwing himself on his sword apparently to save Canadians any future embarrassment, an investigation could be put off for a year or so, until the end of Canada's main Afghanistan mission.

But the circumstances in this case are sufficiently different to warrant immediate attention that will either prove or disprove Mr. Colvin's allegations and render him either a patriot or a villain.

In something of a parallel situation, the wide-open investigation of the honesty of elite Canadian athletes that followed the Ben Johnson doping scandal at the 1988 Olympic games demonstrated to the world that this country had no patience with cheaters.

Similarly, a thorough investigation of Mr. Colvin's concerns will, one way or another, show the international community that Canada does not tolerate the torture of political prisoners at the hand of either our allies or our enemies.

Letters to the Editor

Thorough study on health effects of wind turbines warranted

We can't exchange one health menace for another

To the Expositor:

I can't help thinking about how the wind turbine controversy regarding health issues is similar to the arguments used by the tobacco industry for years. I don't know the exact figures but I know that of the millions of people who smoke, only a small percentage actually develops lung cancer-so in the tobacco industry's argument for so many years, something else must cause the cancer. The wind turbine industry and our own government keep saying: "There is no link between wind turbines and health problems." Part of their reasoning seems to be that since so many people living close to wind turbines don't experience problems, then those who do have problems must have them for other reasons.

I was sent an article recently that describes the terrible headaches and other health problems that developed for a lady immediately after the wind turbines, which were very close to her residence, started producing electricity. Whenever she left the area, her symptoms disappeared. It would be hard to convince her and others like her that their problems when around the turbines were just a coincidence or had another cause.

I am very much in agreement that we should be doing everything we can to improve the environment of our fragile world, but I also believe that our government has the responsibility to all its citizens to be sure that we are not exchanging one health menace for another.

A thorough study must be done on possible health effects of wind turbines before the industry is given a carte blanche to go ahead with mass development. The article I refer to may be found online at the Orangeville Banner website.

John Savage

Bay Estates

Swing bridge must be fixed to prevent serious accident

Safety is of greater importance than traffic flow

To the Expositor:

I read with interest the suggestion that an amber alert sign be installed above the lights on the south end of the bridge. May be a good idea. However, I personally have been bemused over all the attention to traffic patterns that pacify local residents who are often crunched by tourists. Understandable maybe. But are we ignoring a problem that has nothing to do with business operation or the peaceful flow of travellers? I mean, why has not some of that energy and money been spent on new decking for the bridge? It's been a topic for so long that I cannot remember when people first discovered that our bridge was wearing out to a dangerous degree.

Are we going to wait until some hapless traveller sinks right into one of the troughs in that aging planking? Must we have a serious injury or even a fatality before someone decides we need to fix the problem? Business convenience and traffic flow are important, but could we please get our priorities straight by putting life and safety first?

Patricia Paulsen

Spring Bay

Facts about cottage group membership erroneously quoted

GBA maintains Huron should not be a toilet for pollution

To the Expositor:

We read with interest and concern your article on Northern aquaculture in the November 25 edition of your newspaper ("Northern Aquaculture chairman applauds Ont. review of industry"). You start your article by noting the "outrage" that a lead spokesperson for the aquaculture industry has for the "blatant misinformation being put forward by the environmental group," referring to the Georgian Bay Association.

The only example of "misinformation" that is cited by the industry spokesperson is when you quote him to say, "They are very clever at implying, like they did in a recent story in the Toronto Star, that they have the support of most of the cottagers on the Great Lakes."

Had you fact-checked your article against what was actually printed in the Star, on October 10, you would have read the following: "'These farm operations are allowed to run in public water with no nutrient capture and treatment requirements. Their attitude is, the solution to pollution is dilution,' says Bob Duncanson, executive director of the Georgian Bay Association, a group that includes 4,200 cottages on Lake Huron, where most of the fish farms now operate."

We do not and have never claimed to represent "most of the cottagers in the Great Lakes." We do represent 22 community associations along the eastern and Northern shores of Georgian Bay.

We have studied the aquaculture industry in Ontario for over 10 years. We have concluded that it is environmentally unsustainable to allow this farming industry to use public waters to dilute their untreated waste. It should be noted that every other farm operation that grows protein for human consumption (for example, pigs, beef, chicken and even land-based fish farms) has to adhere to the Nutrient Management Act and treat its wastewater before releasing it into public bodies of water. We have calculated the total phosphorous released by the Ontario cage-aquaculture industry to be equivalent to the phosphorous that is created by 8,000 market hogs. To use our Great Lakes as a toilet to dilute this pollution is a travesty.

We have often stated that we admire the entrepreneurs that are involved in this industry. Our wish is that they use their creative energy to explore methods for capturing and treating their wastes so they aren't continuing their polluting ways. We have encouraged our elected officials to work with this industry and provide seed money to enable the industry to explore alternate waste treatment systems which would enable this industry to grow and thrive in an environmentally sustainable way.

Bob Duncanson

executive director

The Georgian Bay Association