Unhappy band members demand chief's resignation

Page 3

Differences between the Walpole Island Band Council and members of that community have escalated so that there are now calls for the chief''s resignation. The unhappy Ontario community of just over 1,000 has been racked with internal strife, made visible by protests, petitions and the use of what are described by one of the dissident members as goon squad tactics.

"This is not about our land claim or about treaty rights," said Ed Isaac. "It is about our chief's conduct. So far, it's over the stand-alone tripartite policing agreement into which the band has entered. Our elected member, Chief Joseph Gilbert, was to negotiate.

Disgruntled band members amassed more than 600 signatures on a petition which led to a referendum vote earlier this year, Isaac explained.

"He failed to get proper community consultation," he said. "Yes, there was a little bit of a survey done, but it's not clear how far it went and how accurate it is.

"When he spent so much time and money, people were a bit pissed off about that and took the democracy into their own hands (through the petition)."

A second petition, bearing 550 signatures, was tabled at a council meeting in June. Isaac said that led to a general meeting at which a resolu-tion was passed calling for a new general election.

The council met and passed a motion requiring council members and the chief to resign if they thought they needed to, said Isaac. It circum-vented the earlier resolution and led to demonstrations, which in turn led to increased police involvement.

"The problem is that people are at risk here," said Isaac. "The chief had me in his office on June 23 and he said to me: 'Remember, I have the law on my side. There are a lot of guns out there.'"

Gilbert did not return calls placed to him by Windspeaker.