‘Our people are not well': First Nation under microscope

Story by The Canadian Press •

Shane Ward finds the frightening footage on his phone with a few flicks of his fingers.

It’s an old TV news report from Aug. 29, 2000, showing federal fisheries officers going full tilt in a big speed boat and ramming Ward’s much smaller vessel.

He and two other lobster fishers from Esgenoôpetitj, or Burnt Church First Nation, plunge into the water of Miramichi Bay.

“I tried to throw a few bricks,” says Ward, 45, chuckling. “That’s what we were fighting for 20 years ago.”

More than two decades on, Ward and others in this Mi’kmaq community of 1,240 people just north of Miramichi are saddened that the agreements signed with Ottawa since that tumultuous time to end the Indigenous fishing dispute haven’t benefited everyone.

On Thursday, two federal fraud investigators came to Esgenoôpetitj to interview people about allegations of financial irregularities on the band council.

A boat deckhand, Ward won't speak ill of anyone on council, the same people who control the community's lucrative fishing licences.

“A lot of Native people when you put the microphone in front of them, they’re quiet. But then later, we’re all talking about it. Everyone’s talking about this investigation here.”

With a knowing smile, he adds: “I’m happy to get the crumbs. I’m not saying I get the pie, but I get the crumbs.”

Other members of the tight-knit, seaside community are reluctant to speak about the investigation.

“I have nothing to say about that,” said Daren Metallic, who kindly posed for a photo on his motorcycle. “I have two first cousins on council.”

One 31-year-old woman, who Brunswick News agreed not to name because she fears repercussions, said the investigation was no surprise.

“It’s been crooked on that council as long as I’ve been here,” she said. "In other, smaller reserves, each member gets royalty payments of $1,500 around Christmastime. We might be lucky to get a $300 cheque."

A secretary at the large band office said Thursday no one on the 12-member council was available for an interview, mentioning that several of the councillors were in Nova Scotia for meetings.

Chief Alvery Paul answered his phone, but said little, other than to confirm an investigation was taking place.

“I have no problem with that,” Paul said, before excusing himself because he was in a meeting. The chief promised to talk later in the afternoon, but he didn’t answer follow-up messages.

Unafraid to speak out is Joanne Bartibogue, the elder and former crisis intervention worker who's been pushing for an investigation for almost a year, first going to the RCMP and then to Premier Blaine Higgs to air her concerns.

Two federal investigators with the Department of Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs – Abdihamid Mao and Chantal Dunn – knocked on her door Thursday to speak with her about her complaints.

In 2010, a study showed that Burnt Church was the poorest postal code in Canada. Bartibogue says the situation hasn’t changed much, and while most of the community remains impoverished, the chief and at least one other council member have become millionaires.

She also corroborated what the young woman said about inadequate royalty payments.

The department won’t comment on the investigation, but audited financial statements, signed by the chief, and available on the Government of Canada’s website, show that Paul took in more than $1.6 million in salary, expenses and other payments over the three years between 2020 and 2022, the latest figures available.

Coun. Jason Barnaby, who also owns the Sit N Bull bar and restaurant, raked in more than $1.1 million over the same period. Coun. Clark Dedam was the third-highest earner, making more than $662,000.

“This investigation is a long time coming,” Bartibogue, 61, said, shortly before the two investigators from Ottawa came to her home on Algonquin Road. Her house was egged the night after Brunswick News first published stories about the whistleblower in June. The splatter was still visible on her window and air conditioner. “Our people are not well. There are a lot of health problems and addictions and people are so hurt. They’ve been hurt so many times by the same leadership.”

Statistics show that about half of the adult population in the community has not completed high school, and two-thirds are out of the labour force or unemployed. Nearly half the homes need major repairs.

Like many Indigenous elders Brunswick News interviewed as part of a series about the problems at Esgenoôpetitj, Bartibogue said it was important for the community to return to traditional values of sharing.

But in the meantime, she wants accountability.

“The chief last year received more than $789,000 for 12 months. And on social media, our members are begging for food. I don’t understand their mentality on the band council any more. What I want to see is for us to be a community again and everyone to get a fair shake. Everyone, from the old to the young.”

Her private meeting with the investigators lasted over an hour. Bartibogue said the federal officials had also been to the band office on Bayview Drive but couldn’t find any of the councillors.

This is the third time in a little over a decade the band council has been under intense scrutiny. In April 2016, the federal cabinet ordered the removal of the entire 12-person council, including Paul, for vote buying and corruption, just before the end of their two-year elected term.

A similar investigation in 2011 led to the removal of another chief and three councillors.

Some of them were re-elected in subsequent years.

Bartibogue said she remained hopeful this time.

“The director said he has done these kinds of investigations for 20 years, and he’s going to put a report together. But he warned me it would cost $768,000 for a forensic audit, which still hasn’t been approved. I said, ‘take it out from the chief, he made almost a million dollars last year’.”

John Chilibeck, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Daily Gleaner