Member Question: Will you fire everyone at the Vineyard, including the Managment?

My response:

No, once again ... I will not fire anyone if I am elected.

There seems to be a trend here and, I will address it by sharing what I believe a Chief position is and how I will approach these types of issues, related to my platform.

If I am calling for Accountability and Transparency, and truly I believe that, if I should get elected, that I have to uphold those principles and continue to be mindful of the very criticism we currently see in our community. Personally, I don't believe that a Chief has the power to fire who they want to. This opinion will not change if elected because my view of leadership has been shaped by my own graduate research into our (Syilx) stories, language, songs, ceremonies, etc. Those are the principles and values that guide who I am and they will not change based on political positions.

So, what is the Solution? I believe every community needs is a split from the Business Operations and Political Operations, without it, both sides suffer. Either the Political overtakes and meddles in the Business side, too greatly to cause overall profitability to suffer. Or, the Business side makes all the decisions based on profits and financial viability, not taking into considering the long term effects of the people and community and really, no one is there to speak for the people, the people aren't included in decision making and there is a top-down approach to overall Band decisions (similar to a Corporation).

This split that I am proposing is based on a split between the day-to-day operations of the Band Business side and Political side, so that politics doesn't play into the operations, such as hiring or firing, where only people who support a certain leader or those from certain families are hired and fired. I believe in Equality and Fairness, and that means everyone should have an equal chance to be hired, all job positions should be posted and there should be employment equity in wages and salaries.

Overall, I believe that everyone should be regularly informed of the Band operations, so that membership is given adequate time to provide input (in the beginning not after a lease agreement has been finalized), are able to review and understand all documents and will be empowered to make well-informed decisions based on what they want to see in their community. That is the job of the Political side, what I am committed to provide to our community if elected and the basis for what I see as need for Direction From the People.

In terms of political power, If I am elected, I believe a Chief's powers are not that broad and far reaching, that I can not make decisions on my own or will be the final word. In terms of the Chief and Council decision making process, I understand that a Chief doesn't even vote unless there is a need to break a tie. So, in terms of big decisions, such as the hiring and firing of a manager, well, those have to be conducted with strict Transparency, so that everyone is aware of the situation and how Council has reached a decision, openly. Overall, increasing the Accountability of Council, because I believe membership should be aware of the Council discussions, what was included within the discussion and, most importantly, who took what position. This will lead to basic good governance operations because then it will allow membership to vote in the future, based on which Council member represented what they feel is important in the community, and which one's didn't.