JMJ
August 10,2011
Addendum about big waste in little places. The majority of the councillors want to remove the Recreation Director position. Removing a position is more responsible and kind than firing someone and replacing that person with another to get at the public trough. People have been giving me some financial figures that I only suspected.
Brabant Lake is not a reserve. It includes people from various bands, metis and whites. We prefer to be human race first nations. Yet we get constant interference from the Band in particular from Chief Tammy Cook Searson. The band gave the “Youth and Elder Culture Camp” $1500. The municipality paid for the supplies by $800 and the Rec. Directors
( 2 of them) got $800 from time sheets to the municipalities . One elder got $300. The others weren’t invited. Since the municipality paid for far more than the essentials of the camp the $1500 was available for drugs and booze.
Every day the two rec. directors get $60. Every week that is $300. Every month that is at least $1200. Children don’t attend and if they do it’s only a hang out situation. The main activity is to stop people from doing things. Children are scolded for going to our house, Parents are threatened if they send their children or themselves to the mission school.
The main Rec. Director is also the Teacher Aid and usually runs the secular school along with the janitor. She has a grade three level education. I can’t even imagine what is the income of a teacher or teacher- aid in the secular school grid.
This waste which is actually theft began when Eugene McLeod was Chairman and Rebecca McLeod was the only councillor. Meetings were a secret event and most of us just went about our business and tried to ignore the mess. Rebecca’s man, Mr. Buekert took three years not to build a rink. There was suppose to be bids for contractors to build a new hall but that was too accountable and risky He and Eugene put themselves on salary plus expenses to build a new hall. Now at least an additional $60,000 has been spent to re-do the plumbing, furnace, ducts, ventilation and the job still isn’t done.
Eugene told me at a meeting that he didn’t want to hear anymore about “Interest- of - Conflict.” What Eugene doesn’t want to hear is suppose to over ride any section in the Northern Municipality Act. When John was councillor for a month Eugene organised a meeting to discuss John and Gay Caswell. I went to meet him when I saw the paper. He came close so my words could be recorded. I told him a few things that I would mention at the meeting. It was called off. His big statement to me was “ Are you his boss? Are you his boss?” pointing to my husband. This was suppose to kick John off council and invalidate his election. Now after 15 years I really think that the people of Brabant Lake know to whom John Caswell is married. They were quite clear on the issue when they marked an X. I’m not elected and never tried to be. I don’t go to meetings usually and everyone including me likes it that way. However democracy needs more than meetings. It also needs the media telling people the issues. Hence this blog. A lot of people want to know about conflict- of- interest issues and they have a right to do so. They have a right to know that their taxes through the largest band in Canada is providing booze and drugs in the guise of camps. Gay
