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It's all in a day's work Ground maintenance crew returns bag full of treaty payment money
Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Thursday, June 27, 2013
LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
Four Fort Simpson men have become local celebrities after word of their honest deed spread.
Floyd McPherson, left, Blaine Antoine, Phillip Denethlon and Jerome Thomas returned a bag full of treaty payment money after it was left behind outside of the Fort Simpson arbour. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo
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Floyd McPherson, Phillip Denethlon, Jerome Thomas and Blaine Antoine were wrapping up their work day as a ground maintenance crew at the arbour and papal site in Fort Simpson on June 12 when Antoine noticed a small, black bag on a picnic table outside of the arbour where treaty day events had just been held.
Thomas was the first to look at the bag and make the surprising discovery about its contents.
Although there was a lock on the bag's zipper, the four men were able to see the bag was full of $5 bills. There were a number of wrapped stacks of bills and one stack that was loose, said McPherson.
The amount of money in the bag surprised McPherson.
"It was lots," he said.
The bag had a tag on it that said "treaty money." Between them, the four men who work for Liidlii Kue First Nation made the decision to take the bag of money to the band office. The bag was then returned to the federal treaty payment team who were still in the village.
"I'm just glad it didn't fall into someone else's hands," said McPherson.
Not everyone would have turned the bag and the money in, he said.
By the following day word of the four men's good deed had spread.
"It was the talk of the town," said McPherson.
The money was in the care of an RCMP officer when it was forgotten, said Cpl. Barry Ledoux of the RCMP G Division.
An elderly lady asked the officer, who was wearing red serge, to take a photo with her and her granddaughter. The officer set the bag down, posed for the photo and forgot to pick the bag back up. The loss of the bag was discovered before it was returned, he said.
"The member was a little embarrassed in the situation, but in the end, it all came out for the better," Ledoux said.
"The four individuals who returned the bag to the band office have to be commended for their honesty."
In situations like this where money is forgotten, whether in a purse or a wallet, it often isn't returned, he said.
Ledoux said the officer certainly won't be making the same mistake again.
Because of concerns for the safety of other federal treaty payment teams, Ledoux wouldn't disclose how much money was in the bag.
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