POWWOW FALLOUT
Band chief removed
LEAMINGTON, ONT. •The chief and a band councillor from a small Southwestern Ontario First Nation have been removed from office in the fallout of a nearly $600,000 band powwow, an audit of which found much of the spending wasn’t backed up.
Some frustrated band members, who sought answers at a weekend membership meeting with the council, got nowhere, told instead that answers couldn’t be provided because a police investigation is underway.
Chief Louise Hillier and her entire council from the Caldwell First Nation had already been suspended in June, as band members demanded the forensic audit into the powwow held last summer in Leamington to celebrate the band’s $105-million land claim settlement in 2011 with the federal government.
The issue came to a boil over the weekend, at a meeting with band members, during which the band council held an impromptu, closed session during the lunch hour and decided to remove Hillier and councillor Lonnie Dodge, a band source said.
“Basically, after lunch break we started the (members’) meeting back up and Louise and Lonnie were gone,” said the band member, who did not want to be named.
Reached Sunday, Dodge — who had signed a $190,000 video services contract for the Caldwell First Nation with the chief’s son, also cited as a concern in the audit — declined comment. “Any other day I would be more than happy to sit and talk,” he said, adding that he could not because there is a police investigation.
Hillier and other band council members couldn’t be reached for comment.
Which police force might be investigating, and what exactly, wasn’t immediately clear. Neither the OPP in Essex County, which provides policing in Leamington, where the Caldwell First Nation is based, nor the Windsor police, could immediately be reached for comment.
Although the audit detailed some missing money, including 99 $50 bills from a powwow bank deposit, no specifics were provided about a police investigation during Saturday’s general meeting, the band member said.
“A member asked, ‘What’s this investigation?’ and the response was they couldn’t talk because there is an ongoing police investigation,” the source said.
The member said the police investigation was often cited as the reason people there couldn’t get answers to other questions asked about the audit during the meeting, which was closed to the media. The audit report, a copy of which was obtained by the Chatham Daily News, found expenses for the powwow last August totalled $576,111, with just under $30,000 in revenue generated.
The audit raised concerns over the fact nearly $290,000 in expenses were “unsupported,” the largest portion of that $247,790 awarded in prize money to participants in dance and singer/drummer competitions.
The auditors found “no information on winners beyond their names,” and couldn’t confirm amounts paid out.
Another concern were the details around how Hillier’s son, David Hillier, received a $190,000 contract for his company Moccasin Media to provide video production services for the powwow, and tell the story of the Caldwells and the repatriation of their land.
The report said discussions with the band council revealed no quotes were obtained from other production companies and the contract was never brought to council for approval. It also cited concerns with Hillier’s involvement with the contract, which included her requesting a $60,000 bank draft for a portion of the payment to Moccasin Media without approval from any other council member.
The audit recommended a legal opinion be obtained over whether a conflict of interest existed with the chief ’s involvement. It also recommended a legal opinion be sought whether Dodge, who signed the contract with Moccasin Media, breached his fiduciary duty by acting outside the conventions of council.
The issue at the band members’ meeting wasn’t the powwow, but how it was run, the Daily News was told.
“Everybody loved the powwow, it’s not about the powwow. The issue is the control of the powwow and how it was run,” the band member said.
Said another band member, Brenda, who did not want to be fully identified: “The band is divided — that’s the only reason that we’re going through this right now.”
Other band members defended their band council, saying it simply didn’t have the experience to organize a powwow that came together fairly quickly.
Susie, another band member who didn’t want her last name used, said she understands the powwow was supposed to be good for the Caldwell First Nation.
“It means so much to us, because we never had that,” Susie said.
“I cried,” Brenda said, adding she was moved by the grand entry that opened the powwow.
“It was beautiful, it was spiritual it was everything a powwow should be,” she added.
The Caldwells were for years landless. Their settlement with Ottawa gives them 30 years to buy land, from which they can assemble property to ask the federal government to create a reserve although the band isn’t required to create one with all the land it buys.
AFTER LUNCH BREAK WE STARTED THE MEETING BACK UP AND LOUISE AND LONNIE WERE GONE ... A MEMBER ASKED, ‘WHAT’S THIS INVESTIGATION?’ AND THE RESPONSE WAS THEY COULDN’T TALK BECAUSE THERE IS AN ONGOING POLICE INVESTIGATION. — BAND MEMBER SOURCE