Local845

This email was distributed widely by Joe Chodzicki, however, unvalidated as an original of the letter has never been provided to the President and Board of Local 845 despite many requests for it.  I publish it here now, because it has been posted on another website without the response of the Local President and the truth of the actual events that evening.  Rocky Mountain House Métis Local President kicks out Métis Youth
>
> > By Mark Nystrom
> >
> > Métis Citizen
> >
> > At a special meeting called in Rocky Mountain House on February 19, 2008;
> > Métis citizens were appalled at the outright bizarre actions of local
> > President Bev Webber.The name is Weber
> >
> > The meeting, which was carried out more as a one sided propaganda session,
> > was called in an attempt to give a vote of non confidence of Joe Chodzicki
> > and Trevor Gladue, who have been vocal on bringing accountability to the
> > Métis Nation of Alberta. At the beginning of the meeting Ms. Webber would
> > not allow certain members of the Métis community to enter without proof of
> > membership.
>Local 845 Elder had each person attending sign a sheet of paper at the door, each member that qualified to vote by providing their MNA card, (new or red & white) and proof of residency, was given a bright orange card with their name, membership number, and Dees signature on it.Bev was not present at the beginning of the meeting, as she was finishing up Metis Jigging lessons. Bylaws state that voting at special meeting requires Membership in the MNA and proof of residency in the Local area.  21 Day notice of the meeting was provided, and Mr Gladue, and Mr Chodzicki in particular are aware of protocol re Special meeting agenda, and voting rights.   See http://www.metis.org/MNAHome/MNA2/MNA-Bylaws.aspx  Article 26
> >
> >
> > She also decided arbitrarily that the Vice President of Region 3 and the
> > Vice President of the Province would not be allowed to speak in their own
> > defense at a meeting that was questioning their integrity and performance.The agenda was prepared, and as per bylaws, only those items on the agenda will be dealt with at a special meeting.The President of Local 845 had observed the Vice President of Region 3 and the Vice President of the Metis Nation of Alberta sabotage the January 08 Provincial Council Meeting by overriding the agenda of the President, thus delaying a vote on core funding, and jeopardizing the Government fiscal support of the Provincial Association.  The President knew that by the bylaws, a Special Meeting will only deal with the Agenda Items listed, however Bev offered time for both Joe and Trevor to answer questions put to them by the card holding Metis present at the meeting.  However, when it was their time to speak, neither asked if there were questions from the Metis qualified to vote.  Trevor launched into the same speech he used at the Metis Nation Region 3 Annual Meeting, and Joe passed out numerous hand outs, Press releases of Trevors, and issues of Metis Matters, a publication managed by Mrs. Trevor Gladue in support of the Health agreement.
> > She however, did finally concede after much pressure from the people, that
> > if they were asked a direct question by individuals that were selected by
> > the board that Joe and Trevor would be permitted to answer that question.
> > But how would a handful of people that had been given one side of a story
> > know which questions to ask to find the truth? They would not think to ask
> > Joe why he wrote that letter to Audrey or ask Trevor why he feels so
> > strongly that the health program be continued, or why the letters that
> > have
> > been leaked to the public are written by Trevor to Audrey but not the
> > other
> > way around, or even why if these men are guilty as accused why they would
> > come all the way to Rocky on their own time and money to present to this
> > local?
> >They came because Joe befriended a former member of Local 845, when that person was living in Calgary and Joe and Trevor felt that he was powerful in Rocky Mountain House.  He has a lot of family in the area, not all of whom have memberships in the MNA, and the majority of those who left the meeting had come in with this former member.  The former member had not attended another meeting of the Local since the election in fall of 2005.  It should be noted that Region 3 head office informed Local 845 that residence of this person was in Calgary for a period of time and then Joe Chodzicki acknowledged to our Elder during the sign in process at the Special Meeting in Rocky , that he had moved the fellow to Red Deer to live the Tuesday prior to the Meeting.  Red Deer has a Local, therefore he was not able to prove residency in the Area of Local 845.
> >
> >
> > The local president seemed to feel free to present to the people what she
> > felt was relevant and her interpretation of the facts but they were not
> > given this opportunity! The fact that they had traveled several hours to
> > attend this meeting and present evidence that would defend themselves and
> > clarify the reasons for their behaviors further indicates that she did not
> > want this to be a fair process. These gentlemen have been elected by a lot
> > larger group of people than Local 845 and the fact that Local 845 would
> > disrespect them and the Métis Nation by not allowing them to speak is
> > unbelievable.1.     The meeting was not a campaign platform, and Mr. Gladue’s objection to “not being able to address the youth”, was answered by an offer from Ms Weber, that after the business on the Agenda, the Local meeting room was free and he was welcome to stay and talk to them for as long as he wished.  However, he did not take advantage of the opportunity.
> >>
> >
> > Bev spoke of the grass roots people making a statement, and this
> > particular
> > group has by their actions, however, I do not believe that they are
> > speaking
> > for all of or representing the grass roots people of the Métis Nation. How
> > does this behavior draw the people together and encourage people to be a
> > part of the Nation. How can one feel safe and stand up for what they
> > believe
> > in if they are going to be persecuted in a kangaroo court? At one point,
> > Bev
> > indicated that if people were in the process of getting a card they could
> > vote. Then, when it was evident that Bev was facing scrutiny on the
> > process
> > of the meeting she then proceeded to kick out a handful of Métis youth and
> > Métis citizens revoking their right to vote. The youth did not have MNA cards, and were profane, disruptive and disrespectful.  2.     The people that were asked to
> > leave were horrified at such an injustice.
> >The vote at the meeting were 11-3 to remove Joe as Region 3 Vice President.   Rocky had 15 voters come out to the 2005 elections: 10 votes Joe Chodzicki  5 votes Arlene Fraser
> >The votes at the meeting were 10-4 to remove Trevor as Vice President, MNA, and send forth Non confidence in his leadership.  In the 2005 election the votes were 6 votes Trevor Gladue  9 votes Ephram Bouvier  Admittedly, that is not a great turn out, but for Rocky, that is quite common.  In fact, for much of the Province, the numbers represent the turn out for elections.  If those numbers can elect a representative, they are also valid to support motions to remove the representative.
> >
> > Not only were these youth interested enough to come to the meeting and
> > expressing their desire to be a part of the Nation after waiting 3 years
> > for
> > their memberships they were once again excluded.  If the youth have waited 3 years for their memberships, there must be more information required of them from the MNA memberships and registries people, perhaps their family should help them attain their memberships by following up with the MNA.How will our youth learn
> > if
> > they are excluded from the process and not allowed to make decisions based
> > on a fair representation of facts? The Rocky Local, at least the board and
> > a
> > few others, seemed to feel that persecuting their elected officials was
> > more
> > important than finding out the truth, conducting a fair and democratic
> > meeting and providing an environment for the young adults to learn, feel
> > included and be proud to be a part of. Of great concern is the fact that
> > one
> > of the more outspoken board members works with young people and should
> > have
> > known the importance of allowing our young adults to be present and be
> > proud
> > of their Nation, not feel frustrated and excluded.It was time for transparency as to the facts of the Health agreement with Metco Ventures and the MNC which Trevor spearheaded, and Joe supports wholeheartedly.  Both of these “elected leaders” who as Vice Presidents, are to take direction from their respective Presidents, instead, they maintain their support of the Metco agreement regardless of what the Judicial Council decision was with regard to Rick Boucher of Region 1 who is the sole director of Metco, being in a direct conflict of interest with the Metis Nation of Alberta.  If these 2 “elected leaders” respected their oath, and respected the decision of the Metis Judiciary Council, they would deserve our respect and time, however, they continue to present untruths throughout the Nation, and misrepresent Ms. Poitras’s reason for not signing the Health Agreement with the MNC on behalf of the MNA.
> >
> >
> >
> > There was no membership list on hand to verify those in attendance. Local 845 did have a membership list, although it was not made public.It
> > should also be noted that she allowed people from outside of the community
> > to stay in the meeting, (Tim Collins, Vice President of Region 4, Gary Boucher, legal advisor to Trevor Gladue, and Lyle Donald, of Edmonton, all card carrying lifetime members, who observed but did not vote) and one minor, the grandchild of the elder, was
> > taken
> > into the meeting after the other youth had been asked to leave. It was the 8 year old grandchild of the Local President , who was taken into the meeting so she would not have to be subjected to the vulgarities, and negative comments coming forth from the Foyer which is adjacent to the office in which she was playing on the computer.  It should be noted that this “youth” did not swear at anyone, demand to vote, and felt safer in the meeting room with her grandmother.At least
> > one
> > life time member that has been involved with the local for many years was
> > so
> > discouraged by the proceedings that they left at this point without
> > voting.An elder with voting rights chose to leave the meeting with his cousin, the non resident MNA member.  An elder with voting rights would have been an example to the youth, by staying and exercising his right to vote democratically on the motions of the agenda.  To my knowledge, every QUALIFIED Member of the Metis Nation voted at the meeting.> > At this time, another Métis citizen was physically pushed out of the
> > building, which ended up with the local RCMP members to be called in.
> > Charges are pending against one of the local board members. The citizen in question called our Elder “Mrs Clifford Olsen”, a comment meant to hurt her to the core, as she lost a child to the criminal Olsen in his murder spree in British Columbia, and every 2 years when the convicted murderer comes up for Parole, she relives the horror of loosing her child.  There are no charges pending, there was a complaint against our Elder, but the President and others observed her attempting to pull the door closed, and observed the over dramatized, “ Don’t touch me”, to which she replied, “I would never want to touch you”.   It should be noted that once outside, the group of youth continued swearing and causing a commotion, encouraged by the adults who brought them.  This resulted a request from the UMAYC coordinator asking them to refrain from the language, as she had children/youth present in her program next door that evening.  > >
> > “Our leaders talk about getting the youth involved, and the moment I speak
> > up, I am kicked out!” stated Shylo, a local Métis youth. “I am embarrassed
> > by Bev’s actions. She literally jumped all over me and my cousins. Why
> > would
> > I want to get involved with leaders like that?” questioned Shylo.Shylo resides in Red Deer, which has a local, so she would not be part of Local 845.   Shylo does not hold a membership in the MNA
> >
> > My family and I have long historical connections to this community, long
> > before Bev moved here. She said I could stay, but kicked out all of my
> > children. What kind of leader is that? We couldn’t even ask questions on
> > the
> > process of the meeting.Mark, then I wonder why you did not ask any questions in the meeting when the MNA members there were asked if they needed clarification.  You could have asked Mr Gladue and Mr Chodzicki questions during their presentations? > >
> >
> > One local Métis Elder asked Bev directly about her involvement with
> > improper
> > cheques signed by her, and he too was told that this wasn’t the place to
> > talk about it. “I asked her if she was being taken to the judiciary
> > council
> > and she said no. Bev lied right to my face” said the local Elder. “I had
> > the
> > proof in my hands, and she still did not want to go there”.The Metis Elder, accused Bev of “committing Fraud”, and said that he had seen the “cheques” prior to the onset of the meeting. Bev simply answered that she did not commit fraud, and the agenda was set for the meeting and this could be discussed at another time.   (The President of Region 3 had support of the Council of Region 3 when Bev was requested to sign cheques)  To date, this issue has not been sent to Judiciary Council.   Being accused of “Fraud” in a public forum is not something that is taken lightly by the Local President.  If this elder had truly seen cheques signed by Bev, it could only mean that a Breach of Region 3 fiduciary security had been committed by Joe Chodzicki.
> >
> >
> > It is time that our Métis citizens stand up and say enough is enough! We
> > should be trying to get our Métis citizens involved, not trying to kick
> > them
> > out.
> >
> >
> >
> > Mark Nystrom
> >
> > Concerned Métis citizen
> >To Whom it may concern: from Vice President of Local 845As an add on, it comes down to the fact that the public was informed that our meeting was a special meeting of the Local 845 membership, everyone was notified in the beginning when they came in the door that they would have to show their cards and prove residency.  We acknowledged the guests and tried to give them what they required.  With all the disruptions that our Youth and visitors were creating, we asked them to leave when the vote happened so we could conduct business.  The group of visitors became belligerent and were verbally attacking our President.  At this point we had every right to ask them to leave as anyone else who was acting in such a manner would also be asked to leave the room and premises.  A former member of Local 845, now non resident in Rocky Mountain House and area, was verbally abusive to our Elder and Past President of 7 years, and would not leave the building.  When asked to leave our Elder alone, he firmly stood in the doorway screaming “don’t touch me”, when in fact no one had touched him.  He was allowed to sit in the foyer, and we went back into our meeting.  The safety of one of the local members’ children was in question with all the vulgarity and hostility of our guests and she was allowed in the room.   It is interesting to see how Joe and Trevor conduct their politics in the Metis Nation.  With this form of representation, I believe we have made the correct decision at our Local level to remove them as our Representatives on Regional and Provincial council.  They are aware of our Bylaws and how we conduct business, yet they brought visitors in to create a disturbance and disrupt regular business of our local.  Fortunately we were able to finish business.  As well, we allowed both Joe and Trevor to speak, setting out the time limits, which they both disreguarded with little or no concern to regular business practice.  When asked to finish up their talks, Trevor stated that we were being disrespectful to him, when in fact they is showed little or no respect to our local, its members or the Bylaws of the Metis Nation of Alberta. Warren Fay