Essential services withdrawn by band
Penticton Indian Band says its administrative staff don’t feel safe due to protesters outside band office
Essential services provided by the Penticton Indian Band were cancelled Wednesday, as a protest outside its administration office dragged into a second day.
All programs and services are postponed until administration can determine a safe alternative for staff, band spokesperson Dawn Russell wrote on the community’s Facebook page.
“The protest is not peaceful and staff were physically obstructed from entering the building. This poses a clear risk to staff and members,” said Russell in the post.
Administration will seek alternative ways to deliver essential services, but they expect this to take a number of days.
“While the administration can support a peaceful protest, the administration will require access to the building to continue to deliver essential services,” she wrote. “Staff will not be expected to come to work until further notice. This will, unfortunately, affect pay and services to community.”
The protesters say their protest has been, and will remain, peaceful.
“The only physical obstruction is the table standing in front of the doors,” Nancy Gabriel said Wednesday.
Protesters are opposing Chief Chad Eneas.
They noted five councillors have resigned — and subsequently been replaced — since Eneas was elected in 2016, and band members have been silenced.
They have concerns about misappropriation of band money, and are demanding more transparency and communication, as well as a forensic audit of where money has been going during the past four years.
Gabriel questions why the chief and council would stop essential services like daycare and health care to the band’s elders, since both are run out of different buildings.
“They are trying to make it look like we did this,” she said. “We didn’t stop essential services. My mother is the oldest here and they are saying it isn’t safe for health staff to go help her? If the chief and council say they care about our people, why would they stop essential service?”
“We never wanted to stop essential services,” added fellow protester Casey Kruger. “People have bills to pay, car payments and house payments. They need those cheques signed. We don’t want to hurt anyone.”
Kruger claimed that while only about 15 people are protesting outside the building, around 120 band members support their action.
“Where is our chief in all this? We want a forensic audit of the last four years. We haven’t been able to vote or put a motion on the floor in two years,” said Kruger.
“We used to have band meetings where we had a say, but then our chief turned them into community meetings. Now everything happens behind closed doors.”
Interim band administrator Jonathan Baynes said Tuesday the band is $11 million in debt and a new CFO has been hired to look into the finances for the past 10 years. But he told the protesters none of that can start until they let administrators into the building.
Eneas has not commented on the protest to date.