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PoliticsFirstNations6TuesdayJanuary212014ByMEAGANWOHLBERGAmoveby42peopleatarecentmembershipmeetingtooustSaltRiverFirstNationChiefFriedaMartselosinavoteofnon-condencehasntstoppedherfromcontinuingtoholdcouncilmeetingsandmakedecisionsonbehalfoftheFirstNation.AllattendeesatlastTuesdaysmeetingoftheFirstNationvotedtore-moveMartselosasleaderofSRFNinwhatwasthelatestinaseriesofat-temptsbybandcouncillorGeorgeCummingtooustheraschief.SaltRiverchiefkeepspostdespitenon-condencevoteCummingrstmadethemotionofnon-condenceagainstMartselosatameet-ingonDec.29wherehesaysthreecouncillorsvotedinfa-vourandtwoabstained.Iputinamotionofnon-condencebecauseofherhiringpracticesandjustnotinvolvingthecouncilwithallherdecisions.ShejustdoeswhatevershewantshetoldTheJournal.Thenon-condencemotionnamednumerousissuesal-legingpersonaluseofbandvehiclescuttingthehoursatthegasbarto8hoursinsteadof16andrefusaltousethebatchplantorhandivanpur-chasedbytheFirstNation.Thisismysecondtermasacouncillor.EverythingwasgoinggoodbeforeshegotinthereandeverythingsjuststartedgoingdownhillCum-mingsaid.Themembershipsnotveryhappy.Everytimeyougointheretheressomeonenewworkingthere.Shehireswhoshewantswhenshewants.AfterTuesdaysvotearound20ofthememberswalkedtothebandofficewhereMartseloswashold-ingameetingwiththreeothercouncillorstodeliverthere-sultsalongwithapetition.Cummingsaidthedoorswerelockeddespiteitbeingapublicmeeting.TheRCMPsergeantwasthere...WewereknockingonthedoorsandwindowstheyThemembershipsnotveryhappy.Everytimeyougointheretheressomeonenewworkingthere.Shehireswhoshewantswhenshewants.CouncillorGeorgeCummingSaltRiverFirstNationknewwewerethereCum-mingsaid.Weneverlockthedoors...Memberswanttocomeweletthemcomein.Theonlytimetheyhavetoleaveiswhenwegoincamera.IfitwasincameratheRCMPwouldntbesit-tingthere.MartseloscouldnotbereachedforcommentthoughsheiscallinglastTuesdaysmeetingillegalaccordingtoothermediareports.Thatwasconrmedbyanothercoun-cillorwhosaidthevotewasinvalidbecauseCummingdidnotgothroughproperprotocolswithrespecttothebandselectionscode.Accordingtoarecentstate-mentbythechiefdeliveredatSaltRiversannualinfor-mationalmeetingonDec.8MartselossaiddecisionslikedecreasinghoursatthegasbararebeingmadetodownsizespendingwithintheFirstNationtodealwithits2-milliondecit.Thisisthereasonwhyyouasmembershipgavemethedirectiontodown-sizethestaffevaluatethegasbarfollowthemem-bersneedspoliciesandimplementtightfiscalrestrainttorebuildSaltRiverFirstNationbacktoahealthyfinancialposi-tionshesaidatthemeet-ingaskingmemberstobepatientwithherasshetriestorebuildfinances.Eliminationofthetre-mendouscostoftheportfo-liostoindividualcouncil-lorseliminationofthetre-mendousamountoftravelcostsandrestructuringoftheofficeadministrationisaworkinprogressthatwilleventuallypayoffshesaid.Martseloshascontin-uedtogotoworkandholdmeetingswithcouncillorsexcludingCummingwhosaidhewastoldheissus-pendedfrommeetingsfortwomonths.AsfarasImconcernedthatsnotlegalbecausetheresnothingaboutbanningacouncillorintheelectioncodehesaid.Cummingsaidhewentbythebooksoneverythinganddoesntunderstandwhyitisbeingcalledillegal.IputinthemotionIhadaseconderandthenwevotedonitandevery-onewasinfavourtooustherhesaid.Cummingsaidheisnowplanningtocontactthegov-ernmentothermediaandthebandslawyerstoaddresshisconcerns.