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Lorne Gunter: Nothing will improve on reserves until Aboriginal politicians are accountable


When the subject gets around to accountability of on-reserve First Nations government, the debate always follows a familiar pattern: Aboriginal politicians claim to be in favour of greater transparency. Non-aboriginal politicians take them up on their stated aims and introduce laws that would apply accountability standards similar to those covering off-reserve politicians. Aboriginal politicians then insist their non-aboriginal counterparts failed to consult them before introducing their bills and insinuate the proposed laws are racist. This backs off the non-native lawmakers and everything goes back to Square One, which is where many First Nations politicians wanted things left in the first place.

What many First Nations’ politicians had not counted on this time was the impact revelations about their exorbitant salaries – uncovered over the past year by the Canadian Taxpayers Federation – would have the debate.

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