Eastern Door Volume 4 Number 5

Following the 1995 Winter Carnival Snow Golf event this past Sunday 26 February, an old fashioned skating party took place at Johnson's Beach. Kahnawake Shakotiia'takehhas Community Services sponsored the party. Despite the cold temperatures, we had an excellent turnout. It was good to see all the people walking towards the beach with skates over their shoulders! Nia:wen to those of you who remembered to bring your Christmas trees down to the beach. They looked nice with lights on them! The following people are to be commended for their contribution towards making the day such a success:

NIA:wen to all the people and their families who made this day possible, despite the freezing temperatures. They are to be commended for the team work and family support. We have not made a head count yet, but I don't think we left any frozen bodies on the island or at Johnson's Beach!

CKRK 103.7 FM program director, Joe Delaronde resigned this week after receiving a suspension notice handed down by station's Board of Directors.

The letter, given to Delaronde on February 28, stated that he had neglected to supply music as promised, for the Kahnawake Schools Diabetes Prevention Project (KSDPP) 50+ walk on Monday, Feb. 27, at the arena. Because he did not show up at the arena, the notice stated, and because of numerous other complaints from the organization, Delaronde was being suspended from work, without pay, for two weeks.

The suspension notice, signed by K103 board of directors chairperson Peggy Mayo, ended with, "Please report back to work on March 15, 1995 at which time, a decision will be made in regards to a decision on your position."

Delaronde confirms the fact that he agreed to supply the music for the KSDPP 50+ walk on Monday and confirms that he could not present himself at the arena.

He explained that it was his first day back to work after illness and that "due to an unfortunate set of circumstances, I was unable to perform for the Diabetes Prevention Project 50+ event."

Delaronde says that he was totally unaware of any other complaints against him. He explained an occurrence at the Harvest Fair last autumn when the KSDPP asked for a live broadcast from their booth. The work depended on an individual at the fair and was simply not done, but the matter was dealt with and payment from the KSDPP was not accepted. Since then, he was not aware of any complaints. As of press time, KSDPP was unavailable for comment.

"The complaints (mentioned in the suspension notice) never came to my office. They went directly above my head. The people above me never consulted me... It was handled very badly. I was never consulted about any problems," Delaronde said. He went on to say that the Board never sought another side of the story and that he was given the suspension without any consultation whatsoever.

Joe Delaronde wanted it made clear that he did not seek press coverage, that he never lobbied for his case, nor lobbied against any Board members at any time.

According to Delaronde, Mayo said that two Board members wanted him fired, but would not say who.

Delaronde said "If the Board was ready to fire me over this, then how could I possibly work under such conditions in the future?... I have decided to resign... I cannot go back".

When asked about the situation, the K103 Board had no comment. The seven member Board consists of chairperson Peggy-Mayo, vice-chair Terese White, Sonny Joe Cross, Tuffy Delisle, Paul Deer, Wendy Walker Phillips, and Kahienes Sky.

This is not the first time Delaronde finds himself in such circumstances with CKRK; in 1985, he was fired because of an incident between himself and a Board member. Felling he was in the right, Delaronde went to court to plead his case. The court absolved him of any wrong-doing, found grounds of wrongful dismissal, and reinstated him to his job. Running for Council, approximately one month later, he had to resign for reasons of conflict of interest.

Delaronde began working at K103 again about nine months ago on probationary status. His status was to be changed to full time after six months, according to his performance evaluation. The evaluation occurred last week, after nine months of work. He thought the letter received Tuesday would have been the full-time confirmation. It was, instead, the letter of suspension. Speaking about his resignation, Delaronde said "I don't want to be the subject of speculation. My credibility is at stake here and I really feel that I have been taken for granted." He added "I've seen it in the past; my career has always been at the whim of people (on the Board) who don't know the (radio) business."

Paul Graif, K103 news and sports director, said, "I'm very sorry to see Joe leave. We're losing an A-1 broadcaster and program director."

Talk show host Conway Jocks said, "It came as a surprise and a total shock." Jocks indicated that Joe had no warning or consultation of the suspension. "I don't blame him for not going back," he said.

A source close to the radio station feels that the Board is not basing the suspension on any complaints against Joe, but rather, is a step in the direction of gaining control over K103. "The DJs are angry and upset and fearing for their jobs, even the veterans," said the source, "this measure against Joe is proof of job insecurity."

Another source who asked to remain anonymous agreed and commented "the (radio station) employees feel it is clear that the Board wants to take over the station and run it according to the Board's agenda." This second source added, "the Board had meddled in the day-to-day affairs of the station. They were not elected as such." The source cited examples of DJs playing music when a Board member would call in and demand the song be stopped or a Board member calling station management demanding a news story be pulled off air since it affected them personally.

"Board members acting individually, saying it is on behalf of the Board when the board is not sitting is a blatant abuse of power and is unethical," said the source, questioning possible conflict of interests of Board members.

Other anonymous persons close to the radio station ask that if this can happen to Joe Delaronde, who is in higher management, why can't it happen to us? They have felt similar treatment in the past, "you don't know what you've done, but you feel it for about a week, everyone is walking on eggshells. You're given a letter and that's it, you're outta there. Its always a matter of what they (the Board) feel is right and they never get two sides the story...its like if you do this, you're fired." They added, "someone just didn't like Joe and got rid of him. The staff feels what happened to Joe is totally absurd. He was placed in an impossible situation in which anyone with an ounce of pride would have done the same thing (resigned)."

Delaronde said, "I'm extremely proud of what I've accomplished while I was there. I always hoped the environment at the station would change and actually help people in a radio career...we were on the verge of really big things. I worked with some really good people there... I'll miss working with them."

The Canadian Government announced this week that the new budget will 'moderate' funding to the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development. Although funding will increase, it will not increase at the 8 percent rate of previous years. Funding for Indian and Inuit programs will increase 6 percent in 1995/96 and 3 percent in 1996/97 and in 1997/98.

In dollar amounts, the increase will be from $5.0095 billion in 1994/95 to $5.3372 billion in 1995/96, an increase of 327.7 million. The government explains that there are two reasons for this continued increase.

First, the Aboriginal population is growing at more than twice the rate of the Canadian Population. Compounding this explosive population growth, demographics show that the Indian population as a whole is very young. Over 42 percent of registered Indians are under the age of 25, compared with 35 percent of Canadians. As this Aboriginal 'baby boom' gets older it creates a burgeoning demand for housing, education social services. Presently one third of the on-reserve population is under 15 years old which contributes to the urgency of dealing with social conditions on reserve.

Second, the government states that significant progress has been made in tackling socio-economic problems on reserves during the last then years. These improvements include running water, sewage disposal, housing and education. However, if funding does not keep pace with the growing Aboriginal population then these gains will diminish.

Funding for Indian and Inuit programs will increase $218.6 million for services such as elementary/secondary education, social services, and establishing and maintaining schools and infrastructure.

In post secondary education, there will be an increase of $34 million in 1995/96 to address the backlog of Indian and Inuit students as promised in the Liberal Red Book of elections promises.

An additional $69.1 million will be added for the negotiation, settlement and implementation of comprehensive and specific land claims processes.

There will be an overall decrease in spending of $28.9 million in operating expenditures, grants and contributions. Approximately $20.8 million will be saved through reductions for operating expenditures such as personnel, transportation and communication, professional services, materials and supplies and purchasing equipment. An additional $8.1 million will be removed from grants and contributions to regional economic development.

The number of civil servants working at all levels in the Department will be reduced by 300 from the 1995/96 base of 3,237. This is in addition to 442 positions eliminated in 1994/95.

A new fiscal reality will mean increased accountability and public scrutiny for all governments, including that of Native Peoples, to ensure funding is appropriately spent. Annual audits from Native communities will be required on a timely basis. Incidents of Native indebtedness will require financial management plans from affected parties. Also, funding provided to First Nations for salaries related to basic services such as education and social services will not increase over the next tow years, consistent with the freeze in salaries of federal public servants.

In the first year, 1995-96, the operations budget for the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake will not be affected negatively, however in the following two years the 3 percent increase may not be able to keep up with the demands of a growing population.

As a result of the $8.1 million cutbacks may be forthcoming to the Kahnawake Economic Development Authority and Kahnawake Jobs Education Training Association.

Generally, any decrease in government spending has a trickle down effect which means that there will be fewer government contracts to bid for, laid-off employees will have less money to spend and there will be less money in circulation.

The 3 percent increase slated during the last two years may not necessarily come to Kahnawake. DIA headquarters in Ottawa will distribute the 3 percent based on need and may distribute the funds in other regions that Quebec.

Detailed implications of the budget will not be entirely understood for some time. As often happens, we must take a close look at the fine print.