Members of Garden River demand transparency from chief and council over treaty settlement

Members of Garden River First Nation are demanding transparency from their chief and council over payouts received from the Robinson-Huron Treaty annuity case settlement. Rene Belleau said she wasn’t going anywhere until her questions are answered. “The main issue is to hear the people and what they want,” she said. “We do feel that the money is our ancestor’s money and we should have a say in that.” Members of the nation have been coming and going throughout the day. Some say they wanted to see a 100 per cent per capita payout of Garden River’s share of the $10 billion settlement – which amounts to roughly $610 million for the community. They said $200 million has been put in a trust fund and want to know what will happen with the rest of the money. “The traditional chiefs of the Robinson Huron Treaty signed that treaty and they wanted us to have that money so we could all have a better life,” said Barbara Lee Nolan. Frank Belleau said he doesn’t want to see the chief and council drag this out. “You’re playing with people’s lives. Some of us are getting old, we need something to make it a little bit easier on us,” he said. “Our kids need something to know that…and there’s no plan, nothing to do with it, other than we’re going to put it away and take it away from you.” Chief Karen Bell was not present for the protest. She was at the Chiefs of Ontario gathering. Councillor Travis Jones met with people at the band office on council’s behalf. “Our community goes beyond the people at that protest,” he told APTN News. “And that’s one thing that is tricky for our leadership is we have very vocal members that want a hundred per cent payout. “Our leadership feels, along with many community members, that doesn’t align with the case. The case was about righting a historical wrong, righting the wrongs individually and the collective.” Jones didn’t give any specifics on how the rest of the settlement would be spent. Continue Reading