Here's a number

$11,000,000.  That's what you and I will be paying for an expansion of the Stoney-Nakoda Health Centre near here.  Why?  Because out of a population of 3,700, they logged....wait for it....35,000 emergency visits last year alone!

That's more than nine per person.  Nine!!  That's coming up to one a month for every man, woman and child on that reserve and that's insane! 

Shouldn't Indigenous Services and the famous Marc Miller be looking at why there are so many visits?  Well, no, because that would mean getting to the nub of the problem on that reserve:  Drugs and overdoses.  Why so many?  Because there is nothing to do there except drugs because most residents who live there are unemployed because they get "their money for nothin' and their chicks for free", as Dire Straits puts it.  

Individual expenses for elected officials running Stoney Nakoda First Nation reached an all time high of $1.4 million last year, according to financial records quietly released in late November under the First Nations Financial Transparency Act.  And we're not talking salaries; we're talkin' expenses.  The following is taken from a report from a 'Rocky Mountain Outlook' report:

"The increase in individual expenditures is on top of a two per cent salary increase the politicians received last year and comes as the nation grapples with a larger than expected deficit of $13 million.

"It’s the fourth straight deficit the band has recorded since it first began publishing its financial statements in 2014 and not the first time its spending practices have been scrutinized.

"In 2015, media reports revealed elected officials were paid a combined $3.3 million in salaries and expenses – a 20 per cent jump from the previous year.

"In response, elected officials’ salaries were reduced the following year, however, individual expenses continued to rise jumping by nearly 30 per cent over the next two years to $1.4 million for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2017.

"The Stoney Nakoda First Nation is governed by three chiefs and 12 councillors from the Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley bands that make up what is known as the Stoney Nakoda Tribal Council.

"Among the nation’s three chiefs, Bearspaw Chief Darcy Dixon racked up $204,129 in individual expenses last year, nearly 60 per cent more than the previous year – the most of any politician.

"His individual expenses are in addition to his annual tax-free salary of $127,453, which all three chiefs earned last year. Councillors who were elected for the full year earned $91,038 and took home between $5,250 to $139,422 in expenses.

"None of the chiefs responded to interview requests, however, acting band administrator Ken Christensen said their wages are fair, explaining each elected official earns a severance package at the end of their elected term, which varies depending on each band."

Fair?!  Are you kidding?!!!  The report goes on.....

"Their salaries stand in stark contrast to the average annual earnings of those living on the reserve, which was an average of $14,488 in 2016, according to the federal census.

"In comparison to other First Nations communities, the Siksika Nation, located an hour east of Calgary, spent a combined total of $1.2 million on salaries, remuneration and travel expenses last year for 13 elected officials. The highest earner took home a total of $102,000.

"John Reilly, a retired provincial court judge who ordered an investigation into the nation’s finances in 1996, said he wasn’t surprised to hear elected officials were reaping the benefits of their position.

"Despite the decrease, the budget still shows the overall cost to support the band’s government increased to $13.9 million from $12.3 million two years earlier.

"It’s also not clear where approximately $30.4 million dollars went in an undefined line item called “other expenses.”

This last part about it not being clear where $30.4 million wandered off to and trickled into "other expenses" is completely unacceptable.  They must be accountable -- but, wait, Trudeau cancelled the Accountability Act as his first order of business.  And they can't pay for the expansion of their own health centre.  But, of course, why would they?!  As I said, it's all "money for nothin' and your chicks for free".