Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs slashed by $2M funding cut

The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, already operating with half its normal staff, says it has less than four months to figure out how to keep the organization afloat.

In April, the full extent of Ottawa's cut to AMCs core funding will be felt, with budgets chopped by 80 per centfrom $2.5 million to $500,000 per year.

They said 'you are going to toe the line with our policy objectives or things are going to get quiet in Manitoba'- Grand Chief Derek Nepinak

Grand Chief Derek Nepinak says that amount of money will basically just keep the lights on.

Nepinaksaidwhen he was first elected in 2011, he was given a warning from the federal AboriginalAffairs and Northern Development Department.

They said,'You are going to toe the line with our policy objectives or things are going to get quiet in Manitoba,'Nepinak said.

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I think that was unfortunately the plan to really silence the voice of First Nations people."

The federal department says it made the changes so funding will be more equal across the board.

Nepinak has been one of Manitobas most outspoken grand chiefs. Over the past year, he has also been a loud voice in the Idle No More movement.

In September 2012, when the federal funding cut was announced, theAMChad a staff of 75 people. Now its down to less than half that number.

The grand chief'sinner circle of policy makers originally had 27 people, but itwill shrink to 11.

Quieting the Aboriginal voice?

Nepinaksaidwith those people gone, it will now be next to impossible to provide political advocacy on First Nations issues.AMCwill have to pick and choose its battles with the government, he added.

Educator and Idle No More activist Leah Gazan says she believes these cuts have less to do with funding equity and everything to do with quieting the aboriginal voice.

I think Stephen Harper has a strategic plan in place, she said, pointingto federal bills pushed through government that she said threaten the environment and First Nations' treaty rights.

Gazan said she believes the prime ministeris feeling threatened because people are standing up to his corporate and resource developmentagendas.

If you dont abide by that, if you dont play into that, then he cuts you off at the knees," she said.

Manitobas former grand chief, Ron Evans, says he doesnt believeNepinakhas been targeted, as funding cuts are happening across the board.

When I was there and otherprevious leaders, we expressed our opposition to things that the governments were doing, things we didnt agree with, saidEvans. We protested, but we didnt experience anything because of that.

Evans, who is chief of the Norway House Cree Nation, saidNepinakis pushing his own agendarather than doing the job he was elected to do. He isconcerned about how the cuts will affect the 61 First Nations thatAMCrepresents.

The chiefs get together several times a year toimplement strategies and work to change provincial and federal policies.Evans saidthats what keeps the organization strong.

When you diminish that, it weakens the organization to the point where it becomes very ineffective, he said.

While Gazanacknowledges the capped funding will impact the organization, she believes the AMC will survive.

I think it's how you choose to spend money, she said. I mean,we can keep feeding the monster that was put in place to destroy us, or we can use the money to build really strong, healthy communities.

Come April 1, 2014, we are going to be down even more because that's when the major cut kicks in, saidNepinak. We have to figure out operating budgets within the very limited resources we are going to have.

Nepinakis in power until July 2014, when theAMCholds elections for grand chief.