NEWELL: The untouchable elite — how chiefs, councils, and politicians built a system without accountability

It is becoming ever more apparent that the federal government and the First Nations people have identical power and financial structures, and modus operandi. The rich get richer, and the poor do without. It is becoming more and more obvious that Canada, most especially British Columbia (BC), is turning a blind eye to the blatant lies and stealthy encroachment of certain indigenous chiefs and councils who are grasping for riches and power, all under the guise of entitlement for supposed wrongs committed before our time.Case in point is the Kamloops Residential School debacle. Leading this charge was Roseanne Casimir, chief of the Kamloops Indian Band. This is the woman who, on May 27, 2021, announced the “confirmation of the remains of 215 indigenous children who were buried at this location.”The government reacted by allocating $12.1 million for the recovery of said remains to the local First Nations, or “Coastal First Nations,” which, contrary to mainstream media reports, is actually a well-funded activist group, not a band, headed by Ms. Casimir, among others. Funding is provided by wealthy left-wing foundations to serve their own agendas.The original $12.1 million grew to $320 million. Yet now, years later, not one shovel of dirt has been turned, and no remains have been found. The funding that had been allocated to excavation, archival research, and site security was diverted in its entirety to administration, marketing, and travel, as well as publicists, architects, and engineers for other projects. No remains or body parts, no forensic evidence, and no transparency.Unfortunately, this was but one of the follies creating havoc by this organization. These same left-wing foundations have donated millions to stop all oil and gas production in Canada. In 2008, they organized protests against the tar sands of northern Alberta as well as the Northern Gateway pipeline project. In 2014, the Coastal First Nations group threatened the project with indigenous resistance. However, contrary to the narrative from the mainstream media, most of the indigenous communities actually supported the pipelines. .And then there were the land claims, again not approved by the band residents but only the chiefs and councils, all for their own gains.On February 20, the Canadian government virtually surrendered Vancouver and the surrounding areas to the Musqueam Indian Band. This was done secretly, without public input. All in the name of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (DRIPA), which provides that indigenous people have the right to the land they traditionally occupied. Thank you once again, Justin Trudeau.BC Premier David Eby has literally sold out the province of BC. His plans, with specific Aboriginal groups, are to put agreements into effect that promise Aboriginal title over land and resources, all done covertly. BC property rights are in turmoil, threatening the long-held security of exclusive title. What happens with getting mortgages and property insurance? Sale of homes? This is opening the door to division, conflict, and distrust. Truth and reconciliation? I think not. Back to DRIPA again, which claims that all Canadian land, especially that in BC, is owned by First Nations bands and must be returned to them. Oh, but there must remain unlimited government funds at their disposal.In the words of John Carpay, President of the Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms: “This agreement gives 1500 Musqueam band members legal ownership of Greater Vancouver and surrounding areas, and creates a race-based third level of Aboriginal government to join the federal and provincial governments in exercising authority over lands where half or more of BC’s people reside.”And the tentacles reach further. While the Alberta independence movement was building up steam, and at the point of collecting the necessary signatures needed to request an independence referendum to leave Canada, a group of First Nations chiefs (paid by the Liberals) registered a court order to stay this proceeding. Once again, the regular indigenous people were not consulted. This has added volatile fuel to a highly charged political debate.The graft of the chiefs and councils continues. The Frog Lake First Nations band once had $102 million in a trust fund belonging to band members. By 2021, it had decreased to $3 million. The leaders had opened lines of credit with commercial banks, later paying off those loans with the trust fund. No band authorization or transparency..Again in 2021, $55.8 million was supposedly used for much-needed housing on the reserve. However, when forensic investigators visited this reserve, they were horrified to observe the same old dilapidated homes, and the money was gone. Financial assets in 2019 decreased from $142 million to $19 million with no explanation. The Frog Lake Reserve descended from the most affluent band in the region to a low average one in a mere five years. Does this sound familiar, Mr. Carney?Chiefs on many reserves are following in the current Liberal footsteps by absconding with the money, leaving their people high and dry. They are handsomely paid to protest, furthering the government agenda, then pocket the money. Currently, an Alberta First Nations chief is facing scrutiny after reportedly receiving $55,000 for demonstrating against the oilsands. Coincidentally, he is also the leader of the Alberta independence debacle.Two of the loudest and richest of this ilk are MLA Joan Phillip and her husband, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip, who lead blockades, protests, and fires, and are heavily into reconciliation grift. In 2014, the Grand Chief was arrested for protesting the expansion of the Trans Mountain Pipeline and has since been arrested an additional three times. His wife, who coincidentally is the granddaughter of Chief Dan George, the actor, has served as a member of the Legislative Assembly of BC since 2023 (NDP). Her political activism included the Palestinian Liberation Organization, the Black Panthers, and also worked to oppose the Trans Mountain pipeline, Ajax mine, Site C Dam, and salmon farming. She was an avid supporter of Premier David Eby’s pet projects as well.An indigenous gentleman, Dean Roach, has kindly permitted me to use several of the words of wisdom he wrote regarding the “top-down” system in First Nations communities:“I am indigenous and I am done being bullied by my own people for not parroting bullshit. Asking questions and speaking plainly should not put a target on your back. This is about dealing with reality now, instead of letting politicians and bureaucrats weaponize the past forever. Albertans are tired of carrying blame for things that happened long before any of us were around” (referring to the Alberta independence movement)..“None of us signed treaties. None of us enforced them. Pretending one side owes guilt forever and the other gets grievance forever isn’t justice. It’s a pressure cooker. What really pisses people off isn’t treaty rights. It’s watching billions get spent while communities are still broke, still stuck, still dealing with the same problems year after year. That is not because regular Canadians refuse to help. It’s because Ottawa wastes money and too many Chiefs and Councils never have to answer for it. That is not racism. That is accountability. Hiding behind history while people suffer today helps nobody except the people cashing the cheques.”“And no, they don’t speak for all indigenous people. A lot of us want work, stability, and a future that doesn’t revolve around constant fighting. Land acknowledgements do not fix anything. They have turned into forced rituals instead of education. Responsibility in a free society is individual, not inherited. Forced shame doesn’t heal anything. Progress doesn’t come from living in the past but from fixing what is broken now. What won’t fix anything is threats, guilt trips, or trying to scare people into shutting up. That only builds anger while politicians and bureaucrats sit safe and comfortable in the middle.”Another brave indigenous person, Bernadette Anderson, reiterates:“What I have never understood is why my people feel this is their land. This land is not mine. No one promised me land. I never earned it. My people were conquered. No other conquered people have ever been given rights to their land or resources the way we have. At some point, our people have to stop playing victim and start creating a life for ourselves. Our leaders are failing us and they are weak. I see our leaders making us into victims and keeping us suppressed while they get rich. The chiefs and councils benefit and do nothing for their people. If we scream Truth and Reconciliation, then we have to start offering it ourselves and we have to start building a better quality of life for our people.”The question appears to be where do we go from here? Somehow, the politicians and chiefs and councils must be held accountable, to the fullest extent of the law, else nothing will change.

NEWELL: The untouchable elite — how chiefs, councils, and politicians built a system without accountability

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