Concerned residents on Mosquito First Nation expressed their desire for a change of living conditions on the reserve at a public meeting Sunday.
The meeting comes in the wake of a Treaty Land Entitlement scandal on the reserve. Five band members - a chief, councillor and three TLE trustees - were charged with various fraud and breach of trust charges for draining the reserve of funds that were supposed to be used for the acquisition of land and using it for other purposes, allegations that stem back to activity around 2002. Three individuals, including Mosquito Chief Clarence Stone, councillor Clifford Spyglass and former TLE trustee Gerald Bird, have pleaded not guilty and are set to go to trial.
The meeting, held in the community hall, was organized by potential candidates for leadership positions in the upcoming band elections on the First Nation. The organizers include Charles Stone, who was planning to run for chief, and Robert Armstrong, who says he intends to run for a council position. The two are both seeking changes to the current regime and policies on the reserve.
Armstrong was the whistle-blower in the wide-ranging Mosquito First Nation Treaty Land Entitlement case in which the five individuals were charged.
"People around here are seeking for help," said Armstrong.
"Out chief and council are going to court. It's not a good sight for our people," said Armstrong, who adds a change is needed on the reserve for the children and the elders who live there.
The meeting was organized in advance of nominations for the band elections, scheduled to take place in April. Nominations were set for March 2.
The meeting's organizers as well as a number of other candidates for the band elections attended. It was largely a congenial gathering, but much concern was expressed about poor living conditions for people on the reserve.
The main issue brought up by the speakers was the state of housing, identified by most as the most pressing issue. Armstrong took the Regional Optimist on a tour to point out run-down conditions and obvious disrepair at a number of the houses located there.
Armstrong claims numerous requests to fix the houses have not been addressed by those currently in charge. "It goes to show what we need on this reserve," Armstrong said of the situation at the homes.
The speakers at the meeting are also seeking more sports and recreation activities on the reserve and also want to see more educational opportunities and more jobs. They also wanted to see more regular meetings with band members.
The meeting was open to everyone, and Armstrong said he had expected members of the current Mosquito band leadership, including Chief Clarence Stone, to show up at the meeting.
He had planned to present resignation letters to them to sign, he said, but that never happened.
"I don't know why they're not here," Armstrong said.
Stone, Bird and Spyglass are scheduled to go to trial May 2. Two other trustees, Alphonse Moosomin and Eldon Starchief, were sentenced in December to a year in custody followed by two years probation in connection to breach of trust guilty pleas entered by them.
