Who will be the next Chief of the FSIN?
- Fraser Needham | October 29, 2015
Three candidates are vying for the top job at the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations.
Helen Ben, Bobby Cameron and Leo Omani have all officially declared their intentions to run for chief of the FSIN.
Nominations closed on September 28 and the election for chief will take place on October 29 during the fall legislative assembly in Saskatoon.
All three candidates come from strong backgrounds in both politics and education.
Helen Ben is a former chief of the Meadow Lake Tribal Council who is currently doing contract work for her community of Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation.
She is also a teacher by training and is working on a Master’s of Northern Governance at the University of Saskatchewan.
Bobby Cameron is also a teacher who hails from the Witchekan Lake First Nation.
He currently serves as an FSIN vice-chief and holds the education portfolio.
Leo Omani currently serves as the Chief of the Wahpeton Dakota Nation.
He also holds a doctoral degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of Saskatchewan.
Whichever candidate ends up winning the FSIN election for chief will take over the organization during a time of both significant challenges and adversity.
In early 2014, the FSIN was forced to lay off most of its staff and elected officials took a pay cut as a result of a close to $2 million funding cut from the Harper government.
This spring, chiefs and band councillors agreed to make up some of the existing shortfall by transferring roughly $1.95 million in gaming revenues to the organization but it remains unclear whether this was a one time transfer or if this new funding will be ongoing.
The current Conservative government has said the reason for the funding cut is because it would like the FSIN to focus on service delivery and get out of political lobbying.
Even if there is a government change as a result of the federal election on October 19, it remains uncertain whether this funding will ever be restored.
The tough financial times have renewed a serious discussion amongst Indigenous elected officials across the province as to what the FSIN’s role should be.
Perhaps to further complicate the matter, it appears many elected officials would like the organization to get out of service delivery and focus on lobbying the federal government to ensure treaty implementation.
This of course would appear to be the exact opposite of what the current federal wants in terms of providing funding to the FSIN.
There is also no doubt that whoever gets elected will have to deal with the current funding gap for on-reserve education.
Some estimates say schools in First Nations communities are funded by as much as 50 per cent less when compared to provincial schools.
The Harper government’s controversial Bill C-33, First Nations Control of First Nations Education Act, currently sits in limbo after failing to gain the support of a number of elected chiefs across the country.
The bill proposes $1.25 billion over three years for First Nations education beginning in 2016.
Bobby Cameron has been a longtime advocate for funding parity between on and off-reserve schools.
The FSIN signed an educational protocol agreement with the province in late August but it will be the federal government that will have to make up the current shortfall if funding parity is to be achieved.
“We have to have a plan based on our growing population, based on the cost of education nowadays as compared to 1996 when the cap was first imposed,” Cameron says. “Obviously investing in education now is going to have a positive impact for all of Saskatchewan and Canada, for that matter.”
Helen Ben says she is optimistic the FSIN can work with other Indigenous organizations to get a serious education funding dialogue back on track with the federal government but says Ottawa must use a much more consultative approach than has been the case with Bill C-33.
“What they were looking at came from a top-down approach and that doesn’t work,” she says. “It has to come from the grassroots. It has to be something that they consult with the First Nations.”
Both candidates say the FSIN should focus on treaty implementation as opposed to service delivery and that quality and accessible on-reserve housing continues to be a major issue.
Cameron says he would also like to revisit the Natural Resources Transfer Agreement as a means of discussing with the province some sort of plan where First Nations would see more financial benefits from natural resource exploitation than they currently do.
In years past, multiple candidates have run for Chief of FSIN as opposed to the three this time around.
Ken Coates, who is the director of the International Centre for Northern Governance and Development at the University of Saskatchewan, says he believes the fewer number of candidates seeking the FSIN’s top job has less to do with the current instability of the organization and is more likely the result of the FSIN not being as attractive to Indigenous leaders as it once was.
Moreover, Coates says with so much happening at the local level in Saskatchewan First Nations communities, many potential candidates may just feel their time is better spent in their own backyard.
“The action is pretty hot at the local level,” he says. When you look at people in years past who might have said that, ‘boy, we’re going to have Darcy Bear (Whitecap Dakota First Nation Chief) running to be Chief of FSIN…’ Why would he want to do that? He’s running a remarkable community and he’s done an amazing job in terms of economic development. So what does the FSIN have to offer him? He has a lot of work to do at Whitecap still.”
Two candidates have put their names forward for vice-chief – current Interim FSIN Chief Kimberley Jonathan and current Vice-Chief Dutch Lerat.
When contacted for an interview for this story, Leo Omani provided a written statement that says he will be unveiling a campaign platform in due course but is not providing media interviews at this time.