Speaking to children at Saulteaux Heritage School on Saulteaux First Nation. (photo from CBC's "In Focus")
Chapter Three: "New Party a Matter of Principle"
On Wednesday, March 29th, 2000, Premier Roy Romanow's NDP-Liberal coalition government announced in their budget that First Nations people would be required to pay six-per-cent provincial sales tax on off-reserve purchases- previously exempt from PST as a treaty right. The decision was made unilaterally, with no negotiations between the government and the FSIN, although a new tax benefit was announced which would see poverty-stricken people receive more money from their joint GST/PST cheques. However, the tradition of not taxing general purchases by status Indians no longer existed which, in principle, offended a lot of people.
Opposition leader Elwin Hermanson was quick to point out that his party had endorsed this policy from its conception; The NDP was finally doing something right. It was left to the FSIN to denounce the government's decision but it became apparent to me that there was absolutely no opposition to the decision within the legislature. The NDP, the Liberals, and the Saskatchewan Party were all on the same page! No party existed to represent First Nations and, with the FSIN outside of the legislature, there was no debate. I decided it was time to create the First Nations Party of Saskatchewan to ensure that a situation like this would never occur again. I quit my job at the radio station and caught the first plane home to Regina.
When I got home, of course, I was delighted to see my wife and son, who could walk now on his own! My mom and sister were glad that I was back, but everyone wondered how I planned to support my family without a job to come home to. I had become so idealistic I wasn’t even concerned for, in my mind, starting a political party would be my job until I got elected into the legislature. I failed to observe that other un-elected politicians had careers that provided a pay-cheque, but my thinking was becoming increasingly bi-polar which left me believing I was the new "Messiah to the Indians" one day, and so depressed I was unable to wake-up the next.
No sooner had I arrived in Regina than I was scrounging through my closets to find the Saskatchewan Elections petitions to register the First Nations Party of Saskatchewan. The Saskatchewan Indian Federated College (which later became the First Nations University of Canada) was holding their annual pow-wow that weekend at the Agridome in Regina, so I quickly called and rented a table. I typed up a press release titled "Former Sask Party volunteer starting First Nations Party" and announced that I wanted to "provide a vehicle by which First Nations concerns could be addressed, and a platform from which our voice could be heard." On Friday I faxed it off to local media, most of whom took notice but waited to see results.
The results came over the weekend at the pow-wow where I approached one and all to sign my petition to start a new party and had people searching constituency maps for their street so they could sign the appropriate petition. (I assigned constituency names to the 58 petition forms so I could satisfy the required minimum of one hundred names from ten different constituencies and a total of 2,500 signatures.) While many people felt uncomfortable endorsing the creation of a new organization other than the FSIN, I collected over three hundred signatures over the weekend, which I promptly announced in a press release faxed out late on Saturday, April 1st. (The irony of starting my crusade on April Fool's Day dawned on me later when I was asked by reporters when I began my quest for 2,500 signatures.)
I even took my crusade to church with me on Sunday! I announced at the end of the service that I was starting a political party and would appreciate everyone's signature. My demand made a lot of people uncomfortable and I gathered only about a dozen signatures, but it was good for me to see that my dream was not shared by everybody and would require a salesman's pitch to get people to sign on the dotted line. In the months to follow, I would be rejected time and time again which was devastating to my hopes and dreams but incredibly helpful in developing my ability to separate my delusions from reality.
On Monday the Leader Post published an article, "New Party a Matter of Principle," by political columnist Murray Mandryk who called me Friday to interview me about my new endeavor. We talked about my time with the Sask Party and how my policy amendment seemed redundant now that the NDP had effectively adopted the Sask Party's position. I shared my dream of a powerful political force that would create a balance in the legislature if, and when, we got our 2,500 signatures and had candidates elected. Mandryk seemed pretty convinced that I would eventually collect the required signatures and that encouraged me to keep on in the days ahead.
I woke up early Monday morning to read the article and call in to CJME's "John Gormley Live" to announce my intentions. At noon I was off to the Hotel Saskatchewan to Stockwell Day's leadership campaign luncheon. I was suited up and I was greeted by lawyer James Rybchuk who congratulated me on my new pursuit and even called me "Mr. Leader." Many prominent Saskatchewan Tories were at the luncheon for Day (Former Saskatchewan Premier Grant Devine was all but mobbed by the media), but only James was brave enough to sit with me to hear Day's speech and eat a tossed salad. When Day began working the room, Jason Kenney introduced us to each other and I explained that I was creating a new party and was hoping to seek an Alliance nomination. Day congratulated me and asked me to keep Kenney informed of my progress, suggesting we could discuss things further after the leadership race. ("When I become leader," was the phrase he used.)
This was bizarre. I was starting a political party of my own but I still intended to seek the nomination of the Canadian Alliance. My justification was that the First Nations Party, like the Saskatchewan Party, didn't have an official federal counterpart. Likewise, the Reform/Canadian Alliance wasn't officially affiliated with a provincial party, although it was understood that the Sask Party bridged the gap. However, I was very politically confused and by the time I would develop my own political identity my flirtation with the Canadian Alliance would cost me a lot of credibility. This would not be the first time I would try to use name recognition to get on a ballot with another party.
After the luncheon, I was tipped off by a reporter that there was a "demo" (demonstration) at the legislature by about two dozen aboriginal protestors regarding the PST issue. I drove over and began collecting signatures with television cameras recording it all. After the demonstration, which featured drumming and singing, I invited the protestors to join me in the legislative gallery to watch the MLAs spar. Of course I rushed home and typed up a press release titled "First Nations Party founder leads protestors into legislature." News was travelling fast about the new kid in town and I was developing plans to travel through Saskatoon, North Battleford, and Lloyminster to Onion Lake where I would visit fellow WABC grad Vern Lewis who hosted a radio morning show.
I was operating at a manic pace, with no serious thought put towards getting a job which interested me because it would distract me from "my destiny." However, both my wife's family and mine were getting concerned. I would assure them that I would finish collecting the 2,500 signatures soon and would look for a job then. I would talk about living off of political donations but was unable to provide the names of any supporters who would finance me. My wife began accepting money from her parents to pay the bills and would eventually decide to enroll in summer university classes. She applied for a student loan for us to live off of, all the time hoping my obsession with my political party would end soon and I'd get a job.
On Tuesday, April 4th, the phone rang just before we were going to sleep. I answered and it was Mike O'Brien, the legal reporter for the Regina Leader Post. He explained that he had checked court documents from 1997, when I was convicted of two indecent acts, and he wanted to discuss it with me. He told me this was a regular occurrence when someone entered politics. I understood and agreed to an interview. I was open and honest with him and explained that I attended group therapy weekly for thirty months. When asked whether I was in any danger of re-offending I told him with the support of "family and friends… I am not." I added, "I am quite thankful and indebted to the justice system for this." I asked him when the article would appear and he told me likely on the weekend. He thanked me for "being open and honest" and our conversation ended.
My heart was racing when I hung up the phone and could barely tell my wife what had occurred, even though she witnessed the conversation anyway. She told me not to worry- that she was proud of me for being honest. But I was worried about people learning about my problems, especially her family who didn't know. Again, she told me not to worry, although I might consider whether starting a political party was worth all this hassle. I was planning to head out on my trip to Onion Lake the next afternoon. We agreed that I could take our cell phone with me and phone regularly to monitor the situation as the weekend drew near. I hoped the article wouldn't appear until Saturday because I'd be home Friday night.
I headed out Wednesday through Saskatoon where I spoke to the students at the Saskatchewan Indian Federated College's (SIFC) Saskatoon campus. Next, I stopped at North Battleford's CJNB radio station to visit general manager Dave Dekker, who I was trying to impress. CJME's Murray Wood told me Dekker was looking to hire some reporters for the new FM station he was building. I had phoned Dekker and told him I would come to North Battleford some time soon to visit him. He showed me around the radio station and we talked politics. Although he wished me all the best with my new party, there was no job offer. I appreciated his encouragement, however- he agreed a First Nations Party had potential in the North Battleford area.
I drove next to Poundmaker First Nation, where Chief Poundmaker is buried. I visited his memorial, dropped off petitions at the band office, and headed to Lloydminster for supper. I arrived in Onion Lake later that evening to find DJ Vern Lewis waiting for me at the radio station. We laughed and reminisced about our school days while playing our favorite songs on the radio, then headed across the street where I met his parents and kids at their home. We stayed up late, recounting old stories, then went to bed.
I slept until noon the next day, then made my way over to the radio station where Vern and I hosted the noon-hour request show, encouraging people to come in to the station and sign the petition. As people arrived, I'd be introduced to them and we’d talk about the party and its potential. A few candidates of their upcoming tribal election showed up, too, and explained the local politics to me. (I assured one candidate that if he wasn't elected, not to worry, he could always get involved with the First Nations Party.) That's how Vern and I filled our day, eventually bringing it to a close by watching a good movie at his home with his family before going to sleep. The next day was approaching.
Vern woke me early the next morning. It was Friday, April 7. We trudged over to the station and checked the newswire. Nothing about me. Neither the Regina Leader Post nor the Saskatoon Star Phoenix were available in Onion Lake, so I checked their websites on the internet, which were still offering only yesterday's news. Then I checked CJME's website. Sure enough, the lead story was about my criminal record. I checked my emails and there was one from my father-in-law. He said the article was pretty bad and he figured my political career was over. I replied to his email and asked him to make sure my wife was okay, then I emailed her quickly, too, because she was not answering the phone. I left her a quick message telling her I would be on my way home and I'd keep the cell phone on. (Onion Lake wasn't included in cellular coverage, though.)
Vern lamented that I was being "crucified," and he assured me he would have the petitions filled by the next time I'd come to visit. I thanked him for his support, and although I put on a brave face, he could see that I was worried about the fall-out from the newspaper article I had yet to even read. As I packed my car to leave, he ran inside his house and came out with a gift for me- his sacred eagle feather. "Take good care of this," he told me. I placed it on the back dash of my car where it would remain on my journey home. (It remained there for a few weeks until I tired of franticly guarding it from the curious paws of my son whose car seat was in the backseat.) With Vern waving from his doorstep, I drove off in the direction of my own reserve, the Saulteaux First Nation at Cochin.
Once there, I met with Chief Fred Gopher. He handed me a copy of the Star Phoenix. I read the article. It recounted my offences and the details of the court proceedings, and my assurances that I would not re-offend were quoted. As bad as it was, there was no editorializing, just the facts. My chief told me not to worry, that we all have a past. "The truth is the truth," he told me. (Ironically enough, the paper also included a column by native journalist Doug Cuthand who wrote about the electoral potential of the First Nations Party, which he warned would "take on the NDP and hurt it where it really counts, at the ballot box.") I felt safe in my chief's office, and his gentle silence was comforting as I read through the articles. After a much needed breather, we said farewell and I hopped into the car again.
On the long drive home to Regina, I eventually drove into cellular coverage and my phone rang. I answered it and it was Morton Paulson from the Canadian Alliance head office in Calgary. He was preparing the final draft of a press release announcing my intention to seek the Alliance nomination and wanted to double check some details. He asked how things were going and I told him I was just returning home from a visit to a few reserves around North Battleford. I also mentioned that there was an unfavourable newpaper article in Saskatchewan's newpapers. Paulson said he would ask someone to fax him a copy. I knew then that the possibility of winning an Alliance nomination no longer existed and I told him to call me back if there were any problems. He asked why there would be any problems and I simply said the newspaper article "wasn’t good." He said he would postpone issuing the press release until Monday and would call me back before he did. He never did call me back because he never issued the press release.
I called my wife at her parents and she said reporters had been calling all day and there were a number of messages on the phone. I asked her how she was doing and she told me she was fine. Her family, however, was somewhat surprised to read about my history in the newspaper. We both agreed that they would have eventually found out anyway, and I never did feel comfortable with them not knowing my story. I'd be home soon but I'd miss the supper time news, so I asked her to watch the television which she agreed to do. When I got home, I checked the messages on the phone, which were numerous, but I decided I had nothing to say to any of the reporters so I erased all the messages. I watched the late news and saw that most of the stations were spinning the story as my assurance that my past would not be a problem, so I decided I would continue on pursuing my goals.
I decided I would focus on getting signatures in various Regina constituencies, going door to door asking people if they would sign the petitions. I didn't want to shy away from the media because of their knowledge of my record but that always came up when reporters would phone. My wallet was empty again and I had no desire to look for a job, so I had to figure a way to get cash quick. As I would go door to door, a number of people recognized me from the news story about me at the Sask Party convention and they would inevitably ask me when the next party function would be. After a while I decided to organize some fundraisers. I chose North Battleford, Prince Albert, and Fort Qu'Appelle as the locations for three fundraising banquets in May. I sent out a press release announcing the banquets and CBC News quoted me saying, "I believe that First Nations… culture is one where they support their leaders and they support people with visions, regardless of any hindrances."
The phone started ringing daily. I did interviews with Windspeaker Magazine, the Drum, and the Saskatchewan Sage. These interviews always left me feeling empowered but it didn't take much to trigger my bi-polar depression. I arrived home one Friday afternoon and busied myself with the day's newspapers and my playful son. At supper time my wife told me that the Globe and Mail had called earlier and they wanted to interview me about the party. What?! The Globe and Mail! I asked why she hadn’t told me earlier! She told me she wrote the number down beside the phone which I quickly called, knowing that Toronto time was two hours ahead. Nobody answered and my interview with Canada's largest newspaper vanished. I became so depressed I slept though my cousin's wedding.
I got a call one day from Thomas Porter, a reporter with the Prince Albert Daily Herald. He received my press release about the banquets and wanted to know more about the First Nations Party. He didn't do his homework, however, and mentioned that he heard something about criminal charges being written about in the Leader Post. I acknowledged the article and he asked me whether I could tell him about the charges. I told him he'd have to "work for his money" and find out the information himself. He even asked if I could provide him with the date of the article! I told him, "The past is the past. This is the present and I’m concerned about the future." He told me that was a great quote. Sure enough, when the article came out at the end of April, my charges were detailed, with the outrageous headline "Ex-con creating new party!" It was followed a few days later by an editorial by Barb Gustofson who saw me as the party's biggest liability who "almost certainly dooms the effort to failure."
I was also the party's greatest asset because of my obsession with and fanatical belief in the party's concept. The petitions were being filled with new signatures every day. Even if I could only get a handful of signatures at a time, it was progress, and I proudly announced the totals as they grew to 500, 600, 800, and eventually one thousand. I had mailed out petitions to all 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan with postage-paid return envelopes. I fired off a rebuttal to the Prince Albert newpaper with a focus on "leadership by example." I wrote: "To adequately represent the first nations of Saskatchewan, one must be disposed to confronting the serious social problems that exist in our province and overcoming them. My experience over the last four years of examining my own personal issues in an effort to correct my misbehaviour has instilled in me the belief that it is within everyone's capability to improve themselves and in doing so, create positive change in their communities." My goal was "to demonstrate to those who feel paralyzed by the weight of their personal issues that there is hope for their future and hope for our future." It was published two weeks later.
I did interviews with reporters from North Battleford and Melville and received favourable articles in both weekly papers. (It was nice to see that at least two out of three banquets were being promoted in a good light.) I was already getting calls from the band administrations of northern reserves interested in buying tickets to the Prince Albert banquet. This is where my fundraising skills bottomed out. I decided to sell seventeen dollar plates for twenty dollars! My sales skills were lacking as well- when a northern band official asked where to mail the cheque for ten tickets, I told her she could pay me after the banquet took place! The FSIN’s Greg Ahenakew initially told me the federation would buy "a couple dozen" tickets and I suggested the same payment arrangement. Thereafter, nobody at the FSIN would take my calls for confirmation of how many tickets they wanted to purchase.
At this point I started reaching out for help. My wife's mother had been secretary of First Nations Alliance Church for a couple of years so I asked her whether she would act as my Chief Official Agent, in charge of signing authority for the party. After some careful consideration, she declined. She said she believed that the right people would have to step forward. Well, they didn't, so I appointed my wife Chief Official Agent and we opened a bank account for the party. I had received a couple one hundred dollar donations so there we sat with a whopping two hundred dollar budget!
As the first of our May 2000 banquets approached, CBC News called and asked whether they could do a feature report on my "crusade" and I agreed to let Steve Pasqualotto and a cameraman follow me on the trip around the North Battleford area. We all met at Dave Dekker's CJNB radio station where I was interviewed about the evening banquet and visited with a couple WABC grads. I still had the illogical notion that townsfolk would just show up at the banquet and pay on-site without buying advance tickets. I honestly had no idea who would show up, and with a camera and microphone on me all day, I couldn't even make last minute desperate phone calls to my North Battelford friends who weren't even aware of the itinerary and consequently stayed home. (My optimism was severe. When asked by a reporter what my main message was, I replied, "We ARE going to win in North Battleford in the next election!")
From the radio station we headed north from North Battleford to my Saulteaux First Nation. The cameraman traveled with me in my car, moving from the front seat to the back seat to get shots of me driving. I was tempted to swerve the car from side to side and shake him up like a high school kid would do, but I restrained myself. Halfway to my reserve, we stopped and he hopped into Steve Pasqualotto's car, and I had about fifteen minutes to myself. I remember how nervous and excited I was- nervous about the possibility of anything going wrong, yet excited about the potential for success.
Upon arriving at the empty band office, we headed to the elementary school for our first disappointment of the trip. I was scheduled to speak to the grades seven and eight about the new party but a teacher explained they were out on a field trip. With the camera on me, I was ushered into a classroom to speak to grades three, four, and five. (I was forced to "make the best of an awkward moment," as Steve Pasqualotto would report.) I asked the class, "Can anyone here tell me what a political party is?" The only response- "Like a birthday party?" "Sort of, but it’s a bit different," I chuckled, as I split the class up into four quarters, which I named The NDP, Sask Party, Liberals, and FNP (First Nations Party). Then we voted on things.
After my tour of the school, I headed back to the band office to meet with the chief and council but it was Friday and everyone had gone home for the weekend. Steve and I grabbed some chairs from the office and headed outside for an interview beside the dug-out. We talked about the bible college ("Why did you break those rules?" "Well, I met a girl that I fell in love with and we wanted to become a family."); the PST and the Sask Party ("When the budget came down… I realized at that moment any hopes I had to change that policy… were dashed."); and my criminal charges. ("Just because some of us have past problems, that doesn't mean we're worthless. That doesn't mean we have to give up on life and let our dreams go down the toilet.")
It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and there was a gentle wind blowing through my hair. I felt so grateful to be on my reserve sharing my story and my dreams of the future with the CBC. I no longer worried about failure because I could see that success would, most likely, come incrementally. The goal of 2,500 signatures still lingered but I was moving ahead with small victories, collecting about ten or twenty signatures per day. In spite of all the criticism, I still knew the day was coming when I would hand in the required number of signatures and there would officially be one more provincial party to vote for. Until then, however, I would have to try and try again to win small victories.
As I pulled up to the casino in North Battleford where the banquet was being held, I got the distinct feeling I had set my sights too high. I had requested a room for fifty people but nobody I knew showed up, leaving me wandering through the casino trying to convince strangers to come for a free meal. I was blessed to meet Elders Allen Sapp and his wife, who accepted my invitation, and Vern Lewis eventually arrived from Onion Lake. I phoned Brian Beaudry, whose letter to the editor I had read earlier that day, and invited him and his wife to dinner. And I met Leonard Iron from Canoe Lake Cree Nation for the first time- he had traveled for hours to attend the banquet. Luckily, he brought a cheque to pay for the table of ten he committed to, so our seven meals were paid for. The optics of an empty room set for fifty couldn't be escaped, however. "The banquet is a bust," Steve Pasqualotto would report. (My Chief, Fred Gopher, came after dinner was served, but Steve and his cameraman had wrapped up and left by then.)
While Vern checked his luck on the VLT's, my chief and I discussed strategy for the struggling First Nations Party of Saskatchewan. Chief Gopher suggested running a candidate in the Wood River by-election that had just been announced. (The constituency included Wood Mountain First Nation.) "We can't," I said. "We aren't a registered party yet because he haven't collected 2,500 signatures- we can't run official candidates until we're registered as an official party." My chief was not discouraged. "Oh well," he said, "we’ll let the other parties take this one, but as soon as we're registered, we'll come out fighting!" My chief soon left but I was encouraged by our conversation.
Only Vern and I remained, so we hopped in our cars and drove to Lloydminster to check out their local bars in search of some good music. We were both suited up and we wanted to feel as good as we looked! We found a good club and had a few drinks. Of course, we didn't get home to Onion Lake until late into the night, and, of course, I slept until noon the next day. Once up, I wandered over to the station to test Vern's composure on the mike- I'd make funny faces and do silly things until he would end up laughing while trying to host his afternoon show. At suppertime, I helped him host the Saturday night radio bingo game. Someone was kind enough to drop off a case of beer to keep the DJ's happy, and we encouraged people to sign our petitions as they came in to buy new bingo cards or redeem winning ones.
When I got home from Onion Lake, I immediately cancelled the Prince Albert banquet because I couldn't see my wife giving me the car for a trip that was beginning to look like a waste of time. I called the northern First Nations who were interested and told them the banquet would be rescheduled some time down the road. Until then I would be busy with a new job at Footlocker. My wife's sister worked there and got me an interview. I was hired and was now working 9 to 5 selling shoes and sportswear. It was fun but it took up time I could have spent gathering signatures. (I still spent my noon-hours running door-to-door in surrounding neighbourhoods. It was a hot May and I once gave myself heatstroke so bad I had to go home sick and delirious- but I got 44 signatures!) I cancelled the Fort Qu'Appelle banquet, too, when it became apparent the only person who planned to show up was the local newspaper reporter.
On Wednesday, May 31st, CBC Saskatchewan aired the In Focus segment, "Cross’ Crusade." They had run commercials for it all week, which I had seen on the Footlocker televisions. ("The First Nations Party would make it a priority to represent the forgotten people…" my voice said as the news-hour was advertised.) The full segment was eight and a half minutes long. The first six minutes covered the trip to my reserve, the Sask Party, and the fundraiser. The last two covered my record, the bible college controversy, and the FSIN's doubt. My wife and I watched it in our apartment and she was none too happy that my expulsion was being rehashed. A friend soon phoned and congratulated me on the publicity, then added, "The first half was pretty good, at least."
Up at Canoe Lake, Leonard Iron was also watching the broadcast. He, too, was excited about the publicity but he was saddened by what he called "an episode of 'Kill the Messenger.'" Leonard wrote a passionate letter to the editor of the Meadow Lake Progress challenging FSIN Chief Perry Bellegarde over statements he made about the very concept of an aboriginal party. (Chief Bellegarde said the Elders "told us to exercise caution when dealing with the issue." He went on to say, "That whole issue of even voting in federal/provincial politics we have to resolve ourselves.") Leonard was a member of the First Nations Coalition for Accountability and believed the First Nations Party could serve to keep both the provincial government, and the FSIN, accountable. Accountability was about to become a very important issue.
