The Cree School Board tries to enforce contract in court
The dispute over school bus contracts between the Cree School Board (CSB) and the Cree Nation of Mistissini reached a new level at year’s end, when the CSB filed proceedings in the Quebec Superior Court in Amos against Mistissini.
The CSB’s decision to award a single contract for school-bus transportation to Gingras-Shecapio Inc. last summer was a flashpoint for debate. On one side, critics alleged that because the company was formed out of one Cree businessman in partnership with a southern non-Cree transportation corporation, it constituted a threat to Cree livelihoods and local businesses. Supporters of GSI said the company met the requirement for 50% Cree ownership, and noted that Phillip Shecapio and his partners had been providing transportation services within the communities for years.
Mistissini resisted the contract, however. And the CSB wants to enforce its power over school bus contracts.
“The situation here is that the Cree Nation of Mistissini would not issue a permit to Gingras-Shecapio Inc. for school transportation, but the CSB has a five-year contract with GSI for school transportation services in all of the Cree communities,” said CSB Director General Abraham Jolly. “In our motion, we ask the court to determine whether our contract is a permit to operate the school transportation service in Mistissini. If the answer to this question is positive, then we ask the court to determine whether GSI meets the requirements of a Mistissini business permit bylaw. We think it does.”
He said the decision to award the contract to GSI was based on two factors. In the open call for tenders, it was the only company that offered to provide service to all of the eight Cree communities (minus Whapmagoostui) that needed school transportation. Secondly, GSI offered low rates for its service.
“[Phillip Shecapio] has real experience in bus transportation and other modes of transportation,” Jolly said. “From the partnership arrangement that he has [with Gingras] – which goes back to before this contract, the business relationship was already there. With the busses he’s able to provide, which are more modern and new, we felt it would be a good service based on the expectations we had of safe and secure transportation for our kids.”
But CSB claims Mistissini refused to issue GSI a business permit.
“We met with Mistissini in an effort to resolve the matter at the start of the 2014-15 school year,” Jolly said. “Because of jurisdictional issues, they felt they had the authority to give that contract to Transport Petawabano. They saw him as the provider for transportation for Mistissini, because he had the contract previously.”
According to CSB chairperson Kathleen Wootten, the debate comes down to one of jurisdiction.
“We’re asking the court to clarify whether if we [at the CSB] have a contract with a Cree business, that contractor needs a business permit from the Cree Nation,” she said.
Wootten said Transport Petawabano operator Tony Petawabano was invited to bid on the contract. “We feel that we followed the protocol for calling for tenders,” Wootten insisted. “We think our process was fair.”
Jolly emphasized the CSB position that school transportation services is within the mandate of the Cree School Board. “We have an obligation to organize and supervise school transportation in Mistissini. We have the right to select a provider as well. But the band believes they have the final word on who does business in Mistissini. We agree that the band council can regulate business activities in Mistissini, but at the same time it cannot prevent a contractor selected by the Cree School Board,” he argued.
The issue is also a source of dispute in Chisasibi as well, where the band previously operated school transportation within the community.
“GSI is not operating at the moment in Chisasibi,” Jolly noted. “But there are conversations happening right now between GSI and Chisasibi, along with ourselves. There was a meeting on this just last week. Things are looking a little more positive to be resolved with Chisasibi.”
Wootten also noted that she regretted having to resort to legal measures, recognizing that challenging the band council on issues like business permits may open a can of legislative worms that no one really wants to have to deal with.
“We understand the concern for the local Cree economy,” Wootten said. “This is a concern in every Cree community, and we share it. We would like to see this matter addressed through a broader consultation process that built consensus on procurement at the local and regional levels.”
The Nation tried contacting the Cree Nation of Mistissini for comment, but our calls were not returned at press time.