Advocates want audit of Blood Tribe Housing
By Tim Kalinowski on March 16, 2021.
LETHBRIDGE HERALDtkalinowski@lethbridgeherald.com Housing on the Blood Tribe First Nation is in a dismal state, say community advocates, and they are pointing a finger at mismanagement as perhaps the culprit.“This is part of the ongoing problems we have on the Blood Tribe, and what we are doing is getting a ministerial letter (ready),” says Elder and community advocate Roger Prairie Chicken.
“We are going to be providing it to the Members of Parliament, and from there directly to Ottawa for investigation on the housing situation, and why it has gotten so bad. At the same time, we need to find out what the answers are. We have a lot of people living with no homes and stuff like that. We have five families living in one home, and this causes the problems.”
“They are not addressing the issues,” agrees fellow Blood Tribe Elder Keith Chiefmoon.
“It is becoming a major issue of community concern for all of us. It is very sad we don’t know what is going on with our officials. We have no idea what they are doing.
“The issue of homelessness and poverty is becoming a major concern for all of us,” he adds.
Chiefmoon and Prairie Chicken are calling for a full forensic audit of Blood Tribe Housing to account for federal government funds which were set aside for housing repairs, but, they allege, never reached the people at the grassroots level.
“What is happening is a lot of mismanagement,” Chiefmoon states. “I think the only way it can be addressed is by a forensic audit … We don’t know what is going on. There is supposed to be annual reports given (by Housing), but that doesn’t happen. We are just kept in the dark.”
Housing advocate Charlene Black Plume says there has always been something off in the way the Housing department has operated on the First Nation.
“When we moved into our house, it was in the 1990s,” she explains. “In some years past one day they came and cleaned our sewer tank, and they changed it. The guy who came and changed our sewer tank said Indian Affairs is coming and also somebody from CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation). When they arrived they were inspecting our house, and one of the people from CMHC said: ‘Oh, your roof is great. Whoever did your roof did an excellent job. When me and Roger looked at each other, we said that was the original roof when it came out of Pine Industries. Somebody claimed our roof and got away with free money. So this has been going on and on.
“People are telling me stories of when they get their houses renovated,” adds Black Plume, “the renovations aren’t complete. The contractors do not finish their jobs, and these people are phoning the contractors and Housing, and they are just being shut down.
“So where is the accountability to the people?”
Black Plume says housing in general has severely deteriorated on the reserve in recent years– to the point where some houses do not even have drinkable water due to issues in the plumbing. And what few dollars for repairs come down from the Tribe, she states, seem to be divvied up based on family connections, and who is friends with who, instead of in the areas of most need.
“I know of people who got their house renovated, they didn’t like the renovation, a major renovation, and the following year they got another renovation,” she recalls. “So that house got renovated twice. There is favouritism in terms of who is getting their houses repaired.”
She says when you try to complain to Housing about different problems or ask for some accounting from the department as to how money is transferred from people’s social benefits to the department, you cannot get a precise breakdown of that information.
“On our reserve, when we run into problems like this, who do we run to complain to?” she asks. “Nobody. Because if you go to the directors and whatnot, they close their doors.”
Prairie Chicken says he hopes by speaking up publicly about what has been a burning issue in the community for a while now he will inspire others in the community to also speak up about it and push for real change and accountability within the Blood Tribe.
“Basically by voicing our concerns, whether through social media or media, exemplifying this thing, and educating out there, I do believe we are taking some kind of action,” he says. “Being quiet, and saying you’re right– that the coward’s way out. We want the people to wake up and voice their concerns.”
The Herald did reach out to Blood Tribe Housing for an interview on these matters, but received no reply. Follow @TimKalHerald on Twitter 4
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