"There are plenty of aboriginal politicians who work hard for reasonable salaries and live by strict ethical rules. But there are also some chiefs and councillors, as the Canadian Taxpayers Federation recently discovered, who are taking home ridiculous sums.

The chief of the tiny Glooscap First Nation in Nova Scotia took home about $243,000 tax-free in 2008-2009 -- a figure that includes travel expenses, but even so, seems awfully high for running a place where only 87 people live on-reserve.

A councillor on the same reserve took home $260,000 in pay and expenses, and added an extra $718,000 in contracts.

Some members of the Glooscap First Nation are angrily demanding transparency and accountability, and rightly so.

Conservative MP Kelly Block has proposed a private member's bill that would require first nations to publish the salaries and expenses paid to chiefs and councillors.

The opposition parties should support the bill; if they have specific concerns about how it's written, they can raise them, but it's hard to see how anyone could oppose the bill in principle."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Bands deserve transparency from aboriginal politicians (The Ottawa Citizen 12/7)

Also Today:
Stoney Nakoda Nation decries 'misleading' salary figures (The Calgary Herald 12/7)

Related Stories:
Leader of tiny First Nation in Nova Scotia defends $243K salary (12/3)
Taxpayer group releases information about First Nation salaries (11/23)
Group calls for more public disclosure of First Nations salaries (10/19)
Opinion: Political salaries on First Nations should stay public (10/11)