‘ENOUGH IS ENOUGH’
CHIEF’S UNCLE TAKES FIRST NATION TO COURT OVER LACK OF FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES
Harrison Thunderchild says he really didn’t want to have to take the Thunderchild First Nation, of which he is a member, to court.
After all, his nephew is the band chief. And he has other relatives on the council.
But as questions in the community swirled about the way the First Nation, located about an hour north of Battleford, Sask., was handling its finances, and band leaders allegedly refused to disclose basic financial records, Thunderchild says he was left with no choice.
“Every level of government has that expectation to be transparent and accountable. First Nations should not be any different,” Thunderchild, 63, a retired teacher and counsellor in Saskatoon, told the National Post in an interview.
“I don’t consider myself an activist. I consider myself a concerned person who’s been driven to a point where I can no longer remain silent.”
On Tuesday, lawyers acting on Thunderchild’s behalf filed an application in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina demanding the Thunderchild First Nation band and council disclose all of their basic financial records from 2013 through 2016.
According to the application, the Thunderchild First Nation has only partially complied with the federal First Nations Financial Transparency Act, which came into effect in 2013. It requires First Nations to provide the government each year with copies of audited consolidated financial statements and a schedule of remuneration and expenses.
But to date, the Thunderchild First Nation has provided only its consolidated financial statements for 2014 and 2016 and nothing else.
Harrison Thunderchild says he was driven to act after other members of the Thunderchild First Nation went on social media and accused band leaders of making investments and equipment purchases without proper consultation, including a $1.5-million investment in a technology company.
Troubled by what he was reading, Thunderchild, whose grandfather and father served as Thunderchild First Nation chiefs in the late 1800s and 1950s, says he started to make inquiries with the band office.
“I inquired not once, but several times, if I could see their audited statements,” he said. “I was told, ‘Oh, you can come look at them.’ But a time was never made available. So I made a formal request.”
Thunderchild says he received a message on Sept. 5 confirming some of the documents were available for him to pick up. But when he showed up on Sept. 25, he says staff refused to provide access to the documents and shut the door to the finance office.
“I’m not a troublemaker. I’m a peaceful man. … Everybody knows my background. But that’s when I said enough is enough. They can’t treat me like this,” he said.
“I’m caught in a hard place. But I have to go with what I believe in. If I don’t do anything, who’s going to help the poor people on the reservation?”
Neither Delbert Wapass, the chief, nor James Snakeskin, the deputy chief, responded to phone and email messages seeking comment.
On the Thunderchild First Nation’s official website, Linda Okanee, director of operations, states that she has an “open-door policy” when it comes to staff and members. “Please feel free to stop by and say hello,” she writes.
Todd MacKay, prairie director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, which is providing support to Harrison Thunderchild in his court action, praised him in a news release for taking a stand for transparency.
“All Canadians have the right to know what their leaders are doing with their money and that includes Harrison Thunderchild,” MacKay said.
MacKay noted that while the vast majority of First Nations are complying with the federal financial transparency rules, this week’s court application against Thunderchild First Nation is the second time such an application has been made in the province.
Last year, Charmaine Stick, a member of the Onion Lake Cree Nation, filed a court application — also with the support of the taxpayers federation — demanding disclosure of basic financial statements from the band’s leadership.
In June, a provincial court sided with Stick and gave the band 30 days to turn over its financial records. Onion Lake’s leaders have appealed the decision.
Shortly after coming to power in late 2015, the federal Liberals announced that they would no longer punish First Nations communities — such as by withholding funds — for not complying with the 2013 financial transparency law that was introduced under the previous Conservative government.
According to an analysis by the National Post earlier this year, the softening of those enforcement measures resulted in a drop in the compliance rate from 92 per cent to 85 per cent.