Tofino, B.C. — A Vancouver Island native community has been forced to close its band office and lay off most of its staff because of a $60,000 dinner it hosted last month.
Moses Martin, chief councillor of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, said all but essential members of the band's 28-person staff will be off work until Sept. 5.
“We've had to shut down our office and lay off the staff to try to deal with the problems we are having financially,” Mr. Martin said Thursday.
Essential workers handling social and legal assistance, patient travel and water and sewer now are working four hours a day, three days a week. The temporary cuts include community health, education, drug and alcohol counselling and security.
The problem was caused by a dinner the band provided for about 3,000 people during the 30th annually B.C. Elders Gathering in Port Alberni, July 18-20.
The gathering — which drew Premier Gordon Campbell, Lieutenant-Governor Iona Campagnolo and then-aboriginal relations minister Tom Christensen — was co-hosted by the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council and the Tseshaht First Nation.
Elders' gatherings are meant to draw native elders together so they can receive recognition for working as advisers, leaders and teachers. About 3,000 elders from British Columbia and Washington state attended the Port Alberni event.
Unfortunately, said Mr. Martin, a past chief councillor committed the 300-member Tseshaht to host the dinner without providing a budget and the commitment hit the current band council “out of the blue.”
“I don't think the fellow who made the commitment had a full grasp of what it would do to the community,” said Mr. Martin. “It wasn't a small thing.”
Pulling out of the event was not an option, said Mr. Martin.
“It's something we had to do that our tribe was committed to do,” he said. “It's upholding the status of our hereditary chiefs.”
Mr. Martin said despite the late notice, the band, based in Tofino in the Clayoquot Sound region of western Vancouver Island, received assistance from the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and several local businesses.
“All our staff were committed to pulling this thing off and we did and it turned out really well,” he said. “It took my council and our staff two days to prepare for the dinner.”
But now the band is struggling.
“We just don't have the money to put out there any more,” said Mr. Martin.
Mr. Martin was reluctant to talk about the previous council's decision to host the dinner, saying he would rather focus on what can be done to turn things around.
