Alexander First Nation will soon be placed under co-management after the release of a forensic audit report last month revealed irregularities within the band’s finance department.
Alexander First Nation chief and council met with staff from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada last week to discuss measures to prevent a potential default situation.
Coun. Craig Yellowdirt confirmed that leadership has agreed to appoint an adviser by the end of October and is currently in the process of selecting a firm that will help manage the band’s finances.
“We had a meeting Tuesday and finalization was today (Friday) in how we are going to approach things,” he said.
Yellowdirt cited “spending issues” as the basis for chief and council’s decision, which has yet to be formalized in a band council resolution.
Concerns over financial irregularities arose last fall when a number of cheques made out by the First Nation began to bounce. This led to the engagement of local accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny (MNP) LLP.
The forensic audit report prepared by MNP under the direction of Alexander chief and council revealed $2.2 million in unexplained payments made to seven staff members, including current tribal administrator Alphonse Arcand, and former chief Herbert Arcand.
Alphonse Arcand has dismissed the report as “incomplete, reckless and out of context,” stating that not all the relevant documents were submitted to the auditor. Herbert Arcand released a statement to other media saying the process constituted a personal attack on certain individuals
Some critics, including Yellowdirt, say the investigation unfairly targeted the eight individuals named in the report.
“I supported it 100 per cent if it was done accordingly,” he said. “I can’t support it on only eight individuals being persecuted. This seems like a personal attack.”
The band council resolution originally called for an investigation into the employment of all past and present staff members and elected officials.
Two concerned band members, Ernie Bruno and Brent Burnstick, hope that leadership will expand the investigation to its original scope and have filed for judicial review with the federal court.
While the initial application, made Aug. 29, asks for the release of the forensic audit report to the public, Burnstick says it will be amended appropriately in an effort to compel an investigation into all Alexander First Nation departments and corporations.
Bruno says it is unacceptable to have questions about band financial management, when some community members live without electricity or heat.
INAC officials would not comment on why the department entered into default management discussions with Alexander First Nation.
According to the federal department’s Default Prevention and Management Policy, default doesn’t necessarily mean the First Nation community is bankrupt.
Default can occur in a number of situations, including when the health, safety or welfare of the community is at risk, delivery of federally funded programs is at risk, or an auditor has flagged concerns with the recipient’s annual audited financial statements.
Alexander First Nation has yet to file its 2016 audited financial statements, which were due March 31, 2016.
The First Nation continues to deliver federally funded essential programs and services.
