Members of our Nisga?a Nation know me quite well by now! My name is Sylvia Stephens from Laxgalts?ap and my reputation is described as a ?peoples? advocate?. I was taught as a child by the ?best? set of parents on how we should treat one another. I believe in ?compassion? and helping one another in time of need as they say, ?the more you give, and the more you will receive?. My father, the late William C. Stephens, instilled in each of us in our family the ?true value in life? and I thank God for our mother, Katherine , who is still with us, as she is like our ?Rock of Gibraltar?. I taped her life story yesterday for her future grandchildren and great-great grandchildren to hear. It was an emotional time as she revealed her life story and that means a lot to me as I have three beautiful grandchildren now who are my treasure.
Over the years, changes have taken place in our community of Laxgats?ap and thanks and appreciation goes to our ?true? leaders who have passed on and who contributed a lot to what we see today. Our ancestors struggled for our Land Claims and I am learning a lot from attending Nisga?a Culture evening classes in New Aiyansh. Next semester, I will enroll in Nisga?a Culture Level 4 and Nisga?a Language Level 4. By the end of the 4th semester in Language, our expert instructor, Verna Williams says that we can make a speech using our own language. It is fun and I enjoy it very much. It makes me appreciate my culture and traditions more and I am glad to see the younger children learning Language at an early age now. Earlier times, we were punished if we uttered a word in our own language. I was not in agreement with the Treaty for the very reason that I see what is happening in our community right now!
I have been doing research on our Government structure and I am sadly aware of what is transpiring. Contacts to the Federal government have been made and I stressed the importance of how we need to see transparency and accountability in our government. Talking with Indian Affairs yesterday, they informed me that we receive ?block funding? and they can do whatever they want to do with the monies. That is so scary! The majority of our leaders need to educate themselves on how a true government should be run and get out of the ?traditional? style where they say, we are the bosses so don?t tell us what to do! I call that a very ?unhealthy? organization as we all should have a say as when the Treaty was passed, we did not get a red cent from it. Our average unemployed citizen barely received $175.00 per month while the Chief Executive Officer can earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. My next step is to see what the President and all the executive earn as these dollars are ours and we want to see something from our Treaty and not, ?the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer? Sad words to say but I was warned about this but what can you do when the majority rules? We were promised self-sufficiency and a solid-based economy and what we have seen over the past 4 years is zero. We have gone from bad to worse as several of the members on our Village Government now allowed the 3 belly-up corporations to deficits in the millions of dollars. After audit research, I found that they transferred the program dollars (Social Development and Education) to bail out these mismanaged corporations. Our Programs and Services Manager, did not see fit to stop any of this before it reached the point of no return. It is sad to say but, they are right back into the swing of things.
What motivates people to run for Council elections? I can say, it is their ?bread and butter? and bingo monies as that is where they can be found all weekend long. I thank the 75 supporters who voted for me and I know that you had confidence in me but,? the same old, same old, families vote in their families?. In my life, I don?t think things will ever change as our people resist change and they think of just for today and not the future. I wonder what will be there for my grandchildren, scary thought! I encourage the younger generation to stay in school, pursue a career and be self-sufficient. To date, I am taking my 27th online course and I have received 2 certificates. Business Office Assistant Certificate and Accounting Specialty Certificate through Northwest Community College. At the present time, I am successfully completing the Management and Business course with BCIT online. The best advantage of doing online learning is the flexibility and getting an education from the comfort of your own home. My mid term exams have just been completed and I love the challenges that I face with this type of learning. It is a very rewarding and a motivational experience for me. Next spring, I will be directing my life towards a business plan and pursuing my dreams to be a successful entrepreneur. The sky is the limit on what resources are available out there and I always say, ?life is too short, do the best while you can and always believe in yourself?.
I will go back to the main reason for my article. I want to challenge the statements made by our Chief Electoral Officer when she said that what people heard about our election were rumors. I know a rumor when I hear it but I have the true facts that still lead me to believe the legality of the overall process. I am not saying that it was an illegal election. There were just too many flaws. We only waited six days to hear the results and this would not have happened if the mail in ballots were mailed out in time to voters living in urban areas. On the advance polls, the ballot sheets were marked as the staff crossed off, the number 8 as the printing people should have had, Vote for 6 and not 8. I directed my question to her and her explanation was, it was a human error. There were many issues that I raised and faxed off to the Administrative Review Board as of yesterday and I await the outcome of this. To add insult to injury, they lost a ballot box en route to New Aiyansh from Greenville. I saw some security people present, how could this have happened? I directed my questions and concerns to the Chief Executive Officer and his only reply is, ?it is a touchy subject? and ?we are at arm?s length? with them. Now, do you see what we have to live with? They don?t care about us once they get into Government or they are sitting in the comfort zone earning a fat pay check. I call this ?corruption? and I know that I will hear feed-back but, what do I have to lose? It is our lives that I am talking about and we are no better than a Third World country. The truth hurts and as I said before, I care and I guess that is just not good enough. I will be their watchdog over the next four years and with positive support from others, we will prosper and see fairness that we desperately deserve.
I thank you for your understanding and listening to my woes but chin up to all who feel like defeat, with hard work and commitment, we will once again be proud of where we come from and who we are! God Bless!