Editor, The Times:
Yet one more story about corruption on the Rez — a chief given an obscenely large salary for being head of an aboriginal band of less than 100 souls.
Of course corruption exists on many reservations across the land. It shouldn't but the reservation system does provide fertile ground.
However, as Thomas King pointed out in “The Inconvenient Indian,” all of this misadventure on the Rez is miniscule — a drop in the bucket — in the whole wide world of government and corporate malfeasance.
Doesn't anyone remember the great corporate fall-downs – Enron, Nortel, etc. These cost ten of thousands of jobs plus billions of dollars — lost, gone forever. Even B.C. Hydro got dinged on that one.
Then, of course, there was the great U.S. banking collapse of 2007 – 09 which brought down such venerable firms as Bear Steams.
In the end the whole thing had to be rescued by the biggest government bailout in history.
What is remarkable here is due to a corporate media — a media that is only too happy to dwell on consumption on the Rez and to publish the salary of Theresa Spence, that is reluctant to report on corporate malfeasance. In other words one has, as one brave woman did in the case of Enron, to shout “The emperor has no clothes,” time and time again. Then the emperor has to be caught stark naked wandering around in the cold before the media 'Loudmouths' have anything to say.
I've just read through the Financial Post (something I don't do too often). One would think that the world of capitalism and commerce is this perfect place where all corporate mergers and business deals are on the up and up – as close to Nirvana as one can find.
Yet, as sure as I'm writing this the wolves of Wall Street or Bay Street or Howe Street for that matter, are prowling around bitching and whining about the already weak restraints put on them.
They will also be dreaming up some Mad Hatter's money scheme that well could bring the financial world crashing down all over again.
The problem here unlike, First Nations, you won't hear about it – until it's too late.
Dennis Peacock
Clearwater, B.C.