I've seen Chief Theresa Spence's (the hunger strike chief) pay as about $70,000 in the media a few times.

However, I think it's worth taking a second look.

First, let's clarify that it's not really $70,000 as most people know it. That amount is income tax free, so for someone off reserve and paying taxes in Ontario, it works out to about $95,000 per year; not bad considering her community only has about 1,828 people.

Second, she could be getting money from other boards that she sits on - because she is a chief. You see, it's common for aboriginal politicians to get "per diems" for meetings they attend; even if they're already getting paid a salary. For example, take a look at this blog post and you'll see Peguis Chief Glenn Hudson (Manitoba) sits on several regional chiefs organizations and tribal councils and receives pay and travel expenses from some of those bodies. If you only look at how much he is receiving from his band, you're really only getting part of the story. Are those other amounts relevant? Absolutely - after all, they're public bodies too and he's sitting on those boards as a representative of his community.

It's quite a different set-up than say provincial premiers - who attend regional and national meetings with other premiers, but don't get extra pay for doing so. 

So let's take a look at Theresa Spence's situation and slot in some question marks beside bodies where she may be drawing pay:

* 2010-11 Salary Figure

Those are just a few additional bodies for which her reserve is a member. Whether or not she is sitting on those boards, I don't know. Perhaps there are other funds as well that she draws pay from - it would be nice if the media asked.

Another point of interest is the pay she received as chief compared with her predecessor. If you look at the 2009-10 financial statements posted on Attawapiskat's web site, you'll see the previous chief received $51,803 before tax. Thus, as the documents show Theresa received $69,579 in 2010-11 that's a 34% pay increase for the chief's position in just one year.

I wonder who authorized that?

In fact, if you look at the total for council pay, it skyrocketed from $386,129 in 2009-10 (Spence was Deputy Chief) to $607,364 in 2010-11; after Spence became chief. Had council kept its total to say a 3% increase that could have led to roughly $207,000 in savings. It may not be much in the grand scheme of things, but it certainly could have fixed up a few homes.