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By putting himself in line for a lucrative bonus just weeks before a massive provincial land deal was set to close, Kwikwetlem First Nation chief Ron Giesbrecht knowingly orchestrated his history-making payday, alleges a band member now leading the charge to turf him from office.

“This [project] has been in the works for a while.… Ron saw an opportunity to make some money, so he jumped in and took over,” said Kwikwetlem band member Ron Jackman.

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Last Thursday, documents released under the new First Nations Financial Transparency Act revealed that Chief Giesbrecht collected $914,219 in 2013/2014 — effectively making him the highest-paid elected representative in all of Canada.

Most of the cash was due to an $800,000 bonus Chief Giesbrecht received as the likely result of an unspecified $8 million “economic benefit agreement” inked between the First Nation and the Province of B.C.

At the time, the chief would have only been a few months into a stint as the band’s economic development officer, where, under a since-removed portion of the contract for that job, he was entitled to receive a 10% cut of all “capital projects and business opportunities.”