(BEN BULMER / iNFOnews.ca)

Behind closed doors, the Okanagan Indian Band council have voted themselves up to 50% pay increases and kept knowledge of the extra wages from their membership.

The steep pay rises see band councillors make either $10,000 or $15,000 a year more and was decided at an in-camera meeting last December.

However, band members at the Okanagan Indian Band were kept in the dark about the entire process with the news of the hefty pay increase only becoming known when councillor Donna Good Water mentioned it at a council meeting.

News of the secret wage increase has frustrated many band members and the council was heckled during a quarterly council meeting July 27.

"What you get paid should not be secret because that is our money," former band councillor Joesph Jack told the meeting. "I think it's wholly corrupt and you all should be ashamed of yourselves."

Neither Chief Byron Louis nor council explained why their whopping pay increase had been kept hidden from Band members.

Chief Louis wasn't at the December meeting so didn't vote on the issue, and councillors Al Louis, Rochelle Saddleman, Viola Brown and Tim Isaac all voted against it.

Band Councillors Rachel Marchand, Mary Jack, Floyd Oppenheimer, Val Chiba, Donna Good Water and Raymond Marchand voted in favour of the extra cash.

"At other levels of government where there is accountability and transparency if they were to give themselves a pay raise at an in-camera meeting, they would all probably all end up resigning in shame," Jack said at the meeting. "I don't believe you can shame the shameless so I don't expect that here today."

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Municipal government politicians have traditionally followed the protocol that they vote on pay — normally increases — for the next council to receive.

Recently, that practice changed when Kelowna and Victoria both put substantial pay rises on the table for current councillors to vote on.

After a couple of weeks of public outcry, Kelowna council still went ahead and approved a raise in April calling the move "courageous." Following backlash from Victoria's taxpayers, its council backed down and instead formed a task force to deal with the issue.

In 2020, Revelstoke council approved huge pay increases for themselves causing one councillor to resign in protest and some city staff to start strike action a couple of days later.

What the fallout from the Okanagan Indian Band's brazen move will be isn't yet known, but some councillors happily defended the increases.

"If we are stealing money let's look into it," Band councillor Raymond Marchand told the meeting. "If it's wrongdoing, let's look into it, other than that let's move on."

Band councillors used much of the same rhetoric as members of Kelowna City council did early this year in justifying a pay increase — they were grossly underpaid for the amount of hours they put in.

They also hadn't had a pay increase in 13 years.

"You knew what you were getting paid," a Band member told council.

In 2023, Band councillors were making $32,177 plus travel and cell phone allowance and voted for $10,400 and $15,600 increases depending on a councillor's duties. Chief Louis made $45,538 and had $20,000 in expenses, the majority being for travel.

Several Band councillors apologized for keeping the wage increases secret but no one offered an explanation as to why it had remained under wraps for more than six months.

"Chief and council you are not transparent, you are not held accountable," another Band member told council.

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If Band councillors are committed to more transparency the actions of some speak otherwise.

At a council meeting July 22, Okanagan Indian Band councillor Rochelle Saddleman put forward a motion to make committee meetings — currently held in-camera — more transparent. The motion didn't pass.

Jack told the meeting the last 10 committee meetings hadn't taken place because only a few councillors showed up so the meeting couldn't get quorum.

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When reached by phone, Jack told iNFOnews.ca he wanted the Okanagan Indian Band to undergo an audit.

"I think what they have done is wrong," he said. "I just want accountability."

The Okanagan Indian Band did not respond to iNFOnews.ca's request for comment.

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