Manitoba band councillors paid more than premiers, MPs

Mary Agnes Welch, Winnipeg Free Press December 19, 2009

WINNIPEG — Each band councillor for the Peguis First Nation in Manitoba made more money last year than Manitoba’s premier, Winnipeg’s mayor and nearly every one of the province’s MPs. According to brown-envelope documents delivered to the Canadian Taxpayers Federation recently, Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson made $174,230 in the fiscal year ending in March. That includes a base salary of $124,000 plus $48,200 in unspecified "other remuneration." It doesn’t include $32,000 in travel per diems and expenses. But Hudson made far less than his four councillors — most of them earned well over $200,000, tax free. One band councillor, Glennis Sutherland, made $251,000 and charged an additional $59,000 in travel expenses during the 2008-2009 fiscal year. That’s more than $160 a day in gas.

Sutherland has been a band councillor for about 20 years in Peguis, one of the province’s biggest reserves and one that’s routinely jolted by scandal. On Thursday, Hudson suggested the figures were too high and possibly incorrect. After checking with his financial staff Friday, he confirmed they are accurate. He said the high salaries are a hangover from the former chief’s administration. Hudson said a forensic audit of the band’s books over the last four years is underway, and the band council recently drafted a resolution capping remuneration at $170,000 for the chief and $140,000 for councillors.