Peguis election under cloud of suspicion

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This article was published 31/07/2009 (5955 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE federal government is investigating allegations of election corruption on the Peguis First Nation — the latest twist in a decade-old battle between two would-be chiefs.

At least 11 band members, including former chief Louis Stevenson, are alleging Chief Glenn Hudson and another councillor engaged in a misinformation campaign and improperly used a band mailing list to send campaign material to off-reserve Peguis members.

Those band members allege there were problems with ballot secrecy and scrutineers and a polling station in Winnipeg was closed for two hours, angering those who arrived to vote.

In a letter dated earlier this month, the elections unit of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada said some of the allegations contained in sworn affidavits may constitute violations of election regulations and might have an impact on the results of March’s vote.

INAC gave councillors, Chief Glenn Hudson and any other band members two weeks to respond to the allegations.

After that, INAC will review the file and decide whether the allegations have merit and the race was tainted. INAC could ultimately overturn the election.

"The assessment is still ongoing," said INAC spokeswoman Patricia Valladao.

For 10 years, Hudson and Stevenson have faced off at election time, which comes every two years on the Interlake reserve.

They have routinely traded allegations of corruption, and in 2007 Hudson finally beat Stevenson, ending his 26-year reign as chief. That same year, a federal court judge found Stevenson had engaged in suspect practices that could have tainted the outcome of his 2005 bid for re-election. In the days before the vote, Stevenson distributed 14 semi-trailer loads of furniture and appliances to band members, a move Hudson said at the time amounted to vote-buying.

The reserve has also been the source of other controversies, including the recent temporary closure of its drug treatment centre and criticism of Stevenson’s tax-free salary and severance pay during his last year as chief. He made $240,000 plus $133,000 in travel expenses in 2006-2007.

Hudson is away on holidays and could not be reached Thursday.

In a letter to Ottawa appealing the election results, lawyer Kimberley Gibson said her clients believe INAC must launch a formal investigation.

"The facts show a campaign of misinformation and blatant falsehoods was carried out in violation of the Indian Act and regulations," she wrote. "Further, the election was run in a disorganized fashion that did not comply with the regulations."

Stevenson, one of the people appealing the election, says in his affidavit Hudson mailed letters to off-reserve band members that contained misinformation about the band’s finances and accused Stevenson and his council of misappropriating funds and abusing land claim settlement money to pay off band loans.

maryagnes.welch@freepress.mb.ca

Peguis cash woes

The province’s biggest band is nearly $20 million in debt and dramatically overspent its budget last fiscal year. Earlier this year, the band experienced such a cash crunch the band planned to lay off 23 people, slash expenses for the chief and council and drastically curb donations and emergency social service grants to band members.

According to a February 2009 draft financial remediation plan obtained by the Free Press, Peguis was millions over budget for the fiscal year ending March 31.

The community services budget line was 160 per cent over budget because more band members were applying for aid, bypassing the program officer and appealing directly to chief and council. Chief and council spent $1.2 million on salaries, travel and expenses — 67 per cent more than planned.

 

 

 

 

Vote on settlement

Band members are voting Aug. 8 on whether to give themselves one-time payments out of their land-claim settlement.

Band members will vote whether to pay out $100, $500 or $1,000 to eligible members, with a little more going to elders.

The money comes from $118.7 million in restitution Ottawa paid earlier this summer for evicting Peguis members from the Selkirk settlement in 1907. It was a historic land claim settlement, the biggest claim for a specific piece of land in Canadian history.

Band members have been deeply divided on the idea of individual payments, with about half the membership preferring to see the settlement money spent on projects benefiting the entire community. If every member received $1,000, that would cost about $9.3 million.

Voting takes place Saturday, Aug. 8 at the Peguis First Nation community hall. Off-reserve band members will receive a mail-in ballot.

 

— Mary Agnes Welch