Gambler members divided on urban reserve

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/05/2020 (2002 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Gambler First Nation community is not seeing eye to eye on how they should handle their Brandon urban reserve.

February’s land designation referendum for the property at 18th Street North and Clare Avenue is under review by Indigenous Services Canada. The referendum was to designate the land for lease to a third party for commercial purposes.

The review is taking place because of a March 9 request of band member Darlene Labelle Gerula. The Brandon Sun acquired Gerula’s appeal documents, and confirmed they are in the hands of the Minister of Indigenous Services Canada.

Gerula, who voted no to the designation, alleges in her appeal documents that breaches to the Indian Referendum Regulations and other actions led to the tight final vote of 72-70 results in favour of the designation.

Gerula said she does want the land developed.

“We want to see the gas bar. We want to continue our relationship with Brandon. We just didn’t want to do it under the document that Dave (Chief David LeDoux) drew up,” she said.

According to documents, LeDoux, his daughter and band councillor Kellie LeDoux and councillor Louis Tanner are directors of the company Gambler Management Ltd., which took out a $1.8-million loan for the two properties that together cost $1.48 million, as well as Gambler Brandon Venture Limited Partnership. There are other similar business structures.

Gerula alleges that any questions about directorship of the business structures were shut down at information sessions.

“The documents that Dave drew up gave all the power to him and his daughter, and none of the money flowed back to the members. It’s the corruption in the documents they drew up that we’re opposing,” she said.

Gerula is concerned that there is no financial accountability to the membership, as the three directors will report to themselves as chief and council.

Gerula is also concerned that the lands will be subleased for nominal fees and for a great length of time — up to 99 years according to the documents — to other First Nations or individuals, which will reap the economic rewards of businesses they open there, and that Gambler members will not have those same opportunities or benefit economically.

Lake St. Martin First Nation, for example, indicated to The Brandon Sun previously that it has big plans on an urban reserve in Brandon, without going into details. In March, Indigenous Services Canada stated Lake St. Martin First Nation had not approached the federal government to initiate the additions to reserve process to develop an urban reserve within Brandon.

As for the alleged breaches to the regulations, those include: some members were denied a vote, the voters list contained the names of deceased people and non-members, a ballot box was improperly transported, a person the Government of Canada hired for security at the Gambler polling station was not a certified security guard, like at the Russell polling station, but had a criminal record and intimidated on-reserve voters, and that some mail-in ballots were inappropriately counted.

There are more allegations in Gerula’s nine pages of appeal documents. 

Gerula and her husband Greg Wakin, who both have business backgrounds, say they were involved in developing the Brandon land project. The couple said LeDoux and his wife Rose LeDoux asked for help to form businesses and generate some revenue for Gambler. The couple found the properties and developed the relationship with the City of Brandon, they say.

“We looked at opening a gas bar first, and maybe a strip mall and opening a few little businesses with that,” Gerula said.

“And then this thing with the referendum happened.”

Gerula and Wakin are also concerned that the federal government, which ran the referendum, included a letter from Chief LeDoux in the referendum package for band members.

“How does a letter from the chief come to be included in there, in that package that came from their offices (federal government),” asked Wakin.

“It’s supposed to be an unbiased referendum. You shouldn’t be swayed either way to vote yes or no.” 

In her appeal documents, Gerula also alleges that LeDoux told band members they’d all get $1 million.

She also states that a federal employee, formerly the band’s financial services officer, told members “that if the membership didn’t vote yes it would be 10-13 years before the Government of Canada looked at this designation again for referendum and that the land would not be developed.”

According to a March 3 email from Sherri Carriere, a land management officer for Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada, to Gerula, Gambler cannot enter into any leases or receive any government funds until the minister signs off on the land designation.

While the review is taking place Gambler can proceed with land improvements, such as bulldozing and clearing, but work on site seems to show excavating, surveying and work with sewer lines.

The Brandon Sun called Gambler First Nation and requested an interview with LeDoux and was told to email questions. While the questions were not answered, the First Nation did make a statement.

In response to The Brandon Sun’s many questions, Gambler’s “Chief and Council” stated: “The matters being alleged are untrue and unsubstantiated.”

“Our nation is dealing with a number of complex socio-economic issues. … This is the first real opportunity our nation has had in terms of economic development and it will take a successful outcome to change people’s minds and have them understand that positive progress is possible for our nation,” they state.

“While we fully support our member’s freedom of expression, we are dealing with a small disgruntled group of members that are trying to undermine our democratic system at the expense of our other members’ well-being. It is unfortunate that our community is not more united in moving our nation forward, but we do hope this will change over time through positive progress and getting away from how things used to be done.”

The City of Brandon stated in an email the matter is between Gambler First Nation and the federal government.

 

» mletourneau@brandonsun.com

» Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.