Why couldn't Chief Richard Ben pay his reserve's bills?

Locutus

Locutus

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Jun 18, 2007
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A devastating fire on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan Indian Reservation caused the death of two toddlers early on the morning of Tuesday February 17th.

It has since come to light that the Indian Reserve had lost its firefighting protection last year, when the much smaller white village down the road got tired of them reneging on the bills. CBC has now posted some of the correspondance between the Village of Loon Lake and the Makwa Sahgaiehcan Indian Reserve on this issue. January 30th was the letter where Loon Lake specifically told the Indians that when a fire occurred, not to call it in.

Let's be perfectly clear on this: the Village of Loon Lake (population: 390 people) doesn't owe anything to the Makwa Reserve (population: 923 people) in terms of fire response services. That is, just as its name implies, a service. Services can and must be revoked in the event that the recipient doesn't pay the bills, and continues to not pay the bills. The relatively low figure in this case ($3,380.89) is ultimately irrelevent to the overall principle.

Why did the Makwa Reserve fail to pay the bill? It's only $3,400, and...

more here

The Third Edge of the Sword: Why couldn't Chief Richard Ben pay his reserve's bills?
 
SLM

SLM

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Mar 5, 2011
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So if there were letters dated as early as January 2013 regarding issues of payment and a letter in January 2015 stating services were terminated, why didn't Richard Ben immediately, without hesitation, seek out alternative methods of dealing with fires on the reservation? I don't know, the whole things smells to me like he wants to blame the whole thing on the VFF of Loon Lake meanwhile he is the one who is supposed to be the caretaker for his community.

Just as side note, I don't think those salaries are exorbitant. But certainly they should be able to pay a $3500 annual contract.
 
taxslave

taxslave

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Locutus said:





A devastating fire on the Makwa Sahgaiehcan Indian Reservation caused the death of two toddlers early on the morning of Tuesday February 17th.

It has since come to light that the Indian Reserve had lost its firefighting protection last year, when the much smaller white village down the road got tired of them reneging on the bills. CBC has now posted some of the correspondance between the Village of Loon Lake and the Makwa Sahgaiehcan Indian Reserve on this issue. January 30th was the letter where Loon Lake specifically told the Indians that when a fire occurred, not to call it in.

Let's be perfectly clear on this: the Village of Loon Lake (population: 390 people) doesn't owe anything to the Makwa Reserve (population: 923 people) in terms of fire response services. That is, just as its name implies, a service. Services can and must be revoked in the event that the recipient doesn't pay the bills, and continues to not pay the bills. The relatively low figure in this case ($3,380.89) is ultimately irrelevent to the overall principle.

Why did the Makwa Reserve fail to pay the bill? It's only $3,400, and...

more here

The Third Edge of the Sword: Why couldn't Chief Richard Ben pay his reserve's bills?
Click to expand...

But the government is supposed to pay. That is the native way.

SLM said:
So if there were letters dated as early as January 2013 regarding issues of payment and a letter in January 2015 stating services were terminated, why didn't Richard Ben immediately, without hesitation, seek out alternative methods of dealing with fires on the reservation? I don't know, the whole things smells to me like he wants to blame the whole thing on the VFF of Loon Lake meanwhile he is the one who is supposed to be the caretaker for his community.

Just as side note, I don't think those salaries are exorbitant. But certainly they should be able to pay a $3500 annual contract.
Click to expand...

Prety big salary for a band of 923 people to pay for if they had to pay it out of their own taxes.
 
skookumchuck

skookumchuck

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Jan 19, 2012
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If people could see how reserves are really run, they would insist on nuking them, not blaming the government. That being said, it is not much different than white politics, natives have just not had enough practice at hiding sleeze yet.
 
IdRatherBeSkiing

IdRatherBeSkiing

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May 28, 2007
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SLM said:
Just as side note, I don't think those salaries are exorbitant. But certainly they should be able to pay a $3500 annual contract.
Click to expand...

Hard to judge without seeing the reserves sources of income and other expenses. If they have a casino and lots of money, those numbers are reasonable. If they are broke and in a deficit, maybe they need to trim ... or build a casino.
 
Cannuck

Cannuck

Time Out
Feb 2, 2006
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Locutus said:
No fire services: more Sask. First Nations without deals in place

No fire services: more Sask. First Nations without deals in place | News Talk 650 CKOM
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Sucks to live in Saskatistan. I got all my 1001's (and then some) paid for by provincial grant money.

I love how this story has taken on a boohoo aboriginal theme. The fact of the matter is that fire fighting is the responsibility of municipalities and the MGA says municipalities "may" provide fire service. There is nothing that requires a city/town/village to supply fire protection nor does it indicate what level of protection should be provided if it is. This story could have easily happened to other communities regardless of their racial makeup. Politicians can be pretty petty sometimes.
 
petros

petros

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Nov 21, 2008
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B00Mer said:
You figured it out huh? He's just a Silly Idiot Troll..

Farmers are the bread basket of America and a farmer, trucker, any laborer is a good job and pays well. Some folks don't get it.
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I don't labour. I just stay awake while technology does all the work and make sure technology doesn't fail and make the big bucks as owner.
 
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