With 50 people a month using the food bank in Rama First Nation, it is outrageous that each member of the band council got a $6,000 Christmas bonus this year, says band member Cheryle Snache.
Rama's six council members are paid a base salary between $100,000 and $130,000, said Snache, a member of the Group for Accountability and Fairness.
They also each receive $500 a month for gas, she added.
"And on top of all that they get a $6,000 Christmas bonus. Give me a break!"
Chief Sharon Stinson Henry pulls in an annual salary of $160,000, almost as much as the Mayor of Toronto, Snache said.
Councillors and chief also receive a $1,000 clothing allowance for each two-year term, she noted.
When you consider a person on social assistance on the reserve collects $2,652 a year, the remuneration and perks paid to council are way out of line, said Snache, a long-time critic of the band council.
"There's a disproportionate sharing of the wealth in the community."
Favouritism has always been something of a problem on the reserve with friends and family of those in power reaping special benefits, Snache said.
But Casino Rama has pushed the disparities between the haves and the have-nots to an extreme, she said.
Also of concern is the sheer size of the payroll for the band's 316 employees, which now totals about $27 million a year.
The chief financial officer, who oversees a department of 40 employees, now makes more that $200,000 a year, Snache said.
"That's way too high."
Snache and other members of her group would like to see administrative wages lowered and the number of councillors increased.
According to the Indian Act, a band can have one councillor for every 100 members up to a maximum of 12.
With 1,500 on-reserve and off-reserve members, Rama could have twice as many councillors as it does now, Snache said.
That would allow for a broader cross-section of opinion and make it harder for a few council members to dominate proceedings, she said.
The band must begin controlling expenses or the bottom will fall out, says Arnold Snache, 69, an elder and another member of the accountability group. (He is not a direct relation of Cheryle's.)
Since Casino Rama opened in 1996, the band's payroll and overall expenses have risen higher and higher, he said.
Currently, Rama's annual budget is $48 million, said Arnold Snache.
"We haven't an unlimited source of revenue. What are the people going to do when the pot is empty?"
A long-term agreement being worked out with the province for the period beyond 2011 will only guarantee $30 million, Arnold Snache said.
"Where are they going to find the other $18 million?"
Arnold Snache said he asked this question at a recent community finance meeting and did not get a clear answer.
The group has started a group on Facebook and hope to generate discussion about the band's finances leading into the election this fall.
"We're trying to hold our government more accountable," Cherlye Snache said.
Chief Stinson Henry was unavailable for comment yesterday.