Trudeau vows overhaul of First Nations disclosure bill Sunday, August 10, 2014

By Peter O'Neil, Vancouver Sun

A Liberal government would scrap the new federal legislation that led to the recent revelation that the chief of a small Lower Mainland had band received income last year totalling close to $1 million, according to leader Justin Trudeau.

He made the pledge in a Vancouver Sun interview even though he later told a media scrum that he’s glad the public learned about Kwikwetlem First Nation Chief Ron Giesbrecht’s lavish remuneration.

“You can have good outcomes out of bad things,” he told reporters last week in explaining why he welcomed the disclosure of Giesbrecht’s windfall last year.

The bill, brought in over the objections of aboriginal leaders and opposition parties, reflected a “lack of respect for First Nations” and was “used as a weapon” against the Harper government’s critics.

He said the Conservatives have been selective in demanding greater salary disclosure, focusing on perceived Tory opponents like First Nations and organized labour leaders while keeping secret the salaries of his top political staff.

However, in his Sun interview he hesitated when asked whether a Liberal government would keep or scrap the law.

He began a response to a yes-or-no question on Liberal policy by saying “whether we keep this legislation …” but quickly corrected himself, saying: “Actually, I wouldn’t keep the legislation in place. I would work with First Nations to make sure that a proper accountability act that would have disclosed any excesses we see, but is done in a way that is respectful of the First Nation communities.”

Neither he nor a party official would specifically commit to a law that requires chiefs and councillors to make their remuneration available not just to band members but Canadians at large.

Trudeau, asked if the B.C. chief should donate the windfall to his community, said: “I think that’s very much a question that would be appropriate to ask the people within that band.”

Trudeau’s high-profile recruit in the new riding of Vancouver Granville recently has criticized the federal law, saying bands shouldn’t be forced by Ottawa to disclose salaries to those outside their communities.

“The ultimate accountability must be to our people and this certainly goes beyond that,” said Jody Wilson-Raybould, speaking in her capacity as B.C. regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations.

She added Friday in an email: “Of course salaries/remuneration should be disclosed to community members, and by virtue of that disclosure it is public, as the band members can do what they please with the information received.”

The National Post reported Thursday that Isadore Day, chief of the 1,300-member Serpent River First Nation, has complained to the AFN that Raybould-Wilson is in a conflict by accepting the Liberal nomination while promising to step down from her AFN post only if she wins the seat.

She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On other issues:

Trudeau, who is opposed to the Northern Gateway oilsands pipeline to Kitimat and has vowed to block it if he becomes prime minister, said he’s more open to the Kinder Morgan pipeline expansion to Burnaby.