A New Brunswick MP says he won't help a local Indian band get more federal aid until they get their fiscal house in order.

The Tobique First Nation is struggling with more than 200 people waiting for homes. Council has asked its local MP for help to deal with the chronic housing problem.

But Conservative Gilles Bernier says the band must first deal with its debt problem.

Tobique First Nation gets about $13 million a year to operate. But its debt, including housing mortgages, has spiralled to about $18 million.

Thursday, band council asked Bernier for help lobbying Ottawa for more money. Bernier said "no' -- in the short term at least.

"Before there's any more money coming on that reserve, they're going to have to find a way to pay that debt, show us that you can manage your own affairs," Bernier said.

Bernier concedes the band is facing a major housing shortage. Chief Edwin Bernard says the housing problem is the cause of half the debt.

"The government doesn't give us enough money for our housing," said Bernard.

"We're forced to borrow money, through CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.) to alleviate the housing problem, which puts the band in major debts, which is a problem across Canada."

Ottawa has forced the band to enter what's called a remedial management program. It stops short of taking over the books, but that could happen if the band can't fend off another deficit this year.

Even from its members, the band isn't getting a lot of sympathy. Terry St. Jacques slams her band council for crying poor after councillors voted last spring to raise their salaries to $1000 a week.

St. Jacques, one of the founders of a New Brunswick group calling for more accountability from band councils, says a takeover by Indian and Northern Affairs is "the only way to clean up this band."

But it's a drastic step, one Indian Affairs will likely do everything it can to prevent.

And for many First Nations people, it would be a slap in the face as they struggle for the right to self-government.