Management turmoil at Kenjgewin Teg linked to financing of Manitoulin Wild  

M'CHIGEENG-Members of the board of Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute met at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation on Monday to review the findings of an audit of the institute's finances.  

Rumours have been circulating in the community for weeks, after the organization's director and another staff member were apparently suspended with pay while the audit was being conducted.  

"I have been trying for weeks to get answers," said a frustrated M'Chigeeng community member Joe Hare. "Nobody is saying anything."

 Kenjgewin Teg Educational Institute Chair Dan Simon said that the board would be making an official statement today, November 24.

 "I was one of the founding members of the institution," said Mr. Hare. "Lewis Debassige and I started the Waubetek Educational Institute (which evolved into Kenjgewin Teg) and we had a dream that one day it would be a First Nation college."  

Mr. Hare said he was concerned that the chiefs of local First Nations who fund the organization do not seem to know what is going on.

 "I am questioning the leadership," he said. "Where is the accountability?"

 Mr. Hare's concerns stem in part from allegations that Kenjgewin Teg has been funding the Manitoulin Wild Northern Ontario Junior A hockey team.  

"As a founding member of that organization," he said, "we never thought it would become a financial sponsor for a hockey team."  

Mr. Hare said that Kenjgewin Teg had provided a van for the team, which has since been reclaimed and is now apparently being sold, and that at least one person on the payroll at Kenjgewin Teg was doing work for the Manitoulin Wild.  

A letter supplied to the Expositor to then Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League president Oscar Cloutier, signed by the executive director of Kenjgewin Teg and dated April 10, 2003, asserts that the institute would be acting as an "administrative body in support of housing a Junior A franchise on Manitoulin Island."  

"The potential Junior A franchise has already been included in our organization's books as a department," the letter continues. "Kenjgewin Teg Educational Insititute is extremely confident with the financial support thus far by members of the gorup and with indications that support the successful long term maintenance of the franchise."  

Most members of the board of Kenjgewin Teg did not return calls following the Monday meeting, but at least one member of the board indicated that the whole story would be made clear shortly.  

Northern Ontario Junior Hockey League (NOJHL) Commisioner Art Yeo of Sault Ste. Marie said the league did not yet know who is actually in control of any team, but that after recieving expressions of interest from potential buyers for a Northern team, he had asked each team to supply him with that information by this week. As of press time, he had not received an answer from any team.  

Northern Ontario Hockey Association, the overseeing body of all minor hockey in Northern Ontario including the NOJHL, president Dick Prescott quickly quelched any rumours that the Manitoulin Wild have any special arrangement regarding players cards (official forms guiding hiring, trading and ownership  of the players' rights) or any other exeptional consideration.  

"Everybody plays by the same rules," he said.   

'Fundraise, hike taxes or privatize,' Manor tells mayors and reeves

 by Lindsay Kelly  

MANITOULIN-Manitoulin Centennial Manor Home for the Aged is in a financial crisis, representatives of local municipalities heard Monday night.

 "We've invited you here, particularly because we have started to get information from a lot of people who didn't know what was going on at the manor, and had heard that things were not all happy here," said Penty Palonen, chair of the board of directors for the manor.

 Addressing a crowd of representatives from local municipalities, unions, financial institutions and human resources, Mr. Palonen said the board called the meeting to share their information with the public.  

He explained that the manor was started in 1967, as a publicly funded institution, with municipal and provincial contributions, and some fees paid by the residents. There is not enough funding to keep the manor going through 2005, however, and board representatives held the meeting to inform public interests of the situation, and present feasible options to change their financial situation.  

Currently, the manor operates with an accumulated deficit of $135,000, which was down from its peak of $180,000 in July. And to combat that deficit, Kathy Deacon, CEO of the manor, along with other board members, offered up a few alternatives for suggestion.  

They include: contracting out services, privatizing the manor, creating a manor foundation, professional fundraising, a one-time fundraising effort to offset the deficit, and increasing municipal contributions.

 "We don't have all the answers," she said. "We hope we'll get some from you."

 Representatives from the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands included Mayor Joe Chapman, along with Councillors Gary Green and Sam Nardi.  

At a meeting last week of Northeast Council, council expressed their support for the manor, and predicted they would need to provide additional financial support to the manor in 2005.  

"I'm concerned, number one, for the manor, because it's an important institution, and I'm also concerned about the effect it will have on our budget if they come to us with big demands," Councillor Nardi said.  

Despite the looming pressure on the town to find more funding for the manor, council agreed finding the funds needed to help the manor was a high priority for council.  

"We have to fund it somehow, some way," Mayor Chapman said.  

Manitoulin Secondary School readies for OFSAA tourney  

by Matt McHarg  

M'CHIGEENG-In the over 50 years that the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) tournament has been going on, this is the first year that Manitoulin Secondary School (MSS) will be the host.  

From November 25 to 27, 16 teams from all over Ontario will be competing at the Espanola high school, Wasse Abin high school in Wikwemikong and MSS in M'Chigeeng. This is not only the first time that MSS has hosted OFSAA but it is the first time that the high school has hosted an all-Ontario championship. Teams will be coming to compete from areas such as Sudbury, the Sault, North Bay and further.  

For MSS to be the host school for this tournament, a bid by the coach of the boys' volleyball team Pete Kategiannis was made two years ago. Now that OFSAA is on the Island the Mustangs have been training hard and have high hopes of meddling in the tournament.  

"This is the first time that the school has hosted OFSAA. I can't say how the team will do but I think that we will medal," predicted Mr. Kategiannis.  

The organization for this event at MSS will undoubtedly be a huge undertaking. A large staff of teachers and students has been recruited, including: Eva Black and Judy Olacke (food concession); Corrina Copp and Cassandra Copp (student managment); Sue Van Horn (fundraising); Jill Patterson (banquet/ hospitality); Bev McDermid (program); Tina Penny and Erin Rose (registration/runner); Frank Gerney (MC and fund-raising); Mike Zegil and Mike Wesno (site supervisor at MSS); Peter Kategiannis (convenor); Leslie Marshall (runner); Steve Doane (security); Greg Lockeyer (media); and Magrot Bickell and Tony Yachuk (assistant convenor).

 OFSAA will be held this week and weekend and will go on from November 25 to 27. It is open to the public so get out there and support the MSS Mustangs.

Northeast Town dismisses MMA decisions

Will make up its own mind regarding sale of lakeshore roads  

by Lindsay Kelly  

MANITOULIN-Correspondence between the Manitoulin Municipal Association (MMA) and council of the Town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands continues to be a hot topic of discussion, as evidenced by council's reaction to a letter it received from the MMA at last Tuesday's council meeting.  

In the letter, after MMA chair Richard Stephens notifies council of the upcoming MMA meeting, he goes on to remind council of the previous meeting's agenda, which focussed on the continuing issue of shoreline road allowances.  

"At our last MMA meeting in Gordon Township, a motion was passed to reaffirm our collective support for the 1990 agreement between the province of Ontario and the First Nations of Manitoulin," he wrote. "Central Manitoulin passed a resolution on October 14, 2004 that endorses this recent position of the MMA."  

He further suggested the issue should be presented to council and that council should confirm their support for the issue. Once voted on, he said, "a copy of your resolution should be forwarded...for inclusion in our MMA records."  

Council members unanimously let their disdain show for this most recent turn of events.

Councillor Marcel Gauthier indicated that the MMA was essentially rehashing old business that had, in his mind, already been resolved.

 "Our response to Richard Stephens was abundantly clear from the last resolution we passed," Councillor Gauthier said. "I suggest we send a copy to Richard and cc (send a carbon copy to) all other councils on Manitoulin in advance of the meeting."  

Mayor Chapman pointed out that Northeast council had attempted to arrange a meeting with the United Chiefs and Councils of Manitoulin (UCCM) on several occasions to discuss the issue, but a mutually beneficial time could not be worked out between the two parties.

 "They don't wish to meet with us (Northeast council), they only want to meet with us as the MMA," Mayor Chapman noted. "I don't think that's appropriate."

 He proceeded to say he felt it was presumptuous of the MMA to assume the Northeast council would pass a resolution based on the wishes of the MMA. He refused to let the MMA "decide NEMI politics," he concluded.

 At the suggestion of Councillor Sam Nardi, council agreed to send a response to the MMA, indicating receipt of its letter.