Federal judge rules in favour of releasing Frog Lake financial documents in precedent-setting move

A man from Alberta’s Frog Lake First Nation has teamed up with the Canadian Taxpayer’s Federation in Saskatchewan to press the nation for greater financial acco

Hans McCarthy has spent the last three years seeking clarity regarding the finances of his community, Frog Lake First Nation.

“There’s a lot of corruption in First Nation communities. And that’s one of the things messing up what’s going on in First Nation communities,” McCarthy told CTV News.

“To pursue this sets a precedent for activists and people wanting to know what’s going on with our money in our communities.”

McCarthy partnered up with the Canadian Taxpayers’ Federation, with a recent media release from CTF alleging the Frog Lake First Nation trust fund used up over $90 million in 11 years, with no clear record of how the money was spent.

“First Nations band members have a right to see how their community’s money is being spent,” saod Gage Haubrich, Prairie Director of the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Haubrich shared Frog Lake First Nation’s trust fund has revenue from natural resources located on band lands.

He alleges in 2013 the trust fund had $102 million, and by 2024, the account had less than $9 million.

McCarthy initially filed a Federal Access to Information Act to acquire the band council resolutions regarding the funds.

Indigenous Services Canada initially refused to release the documents, which resulted in the matter being brought before the Federal Court in Vancouver.

“We argued both the federal government and local First Nations leaders have a duty to provide this type of financial transparency to band members who request them,” added Haubrich.

“The federal Court agreed with our argument and should be getting the documents from Indigenous Services Canada about the trust fund, within 30 days.”

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McCarthy shared while he’s interested to see the financial information, he’s happier about the precedent this decision will set.

“It’s really emotional. It’s hard to put into words. I had a hard time sleeping the past couple of days because of this, because of how excited we are. A lot of people all across North America have been reaching out to me. It’s pretty big news in First Nations country.”

The Frog Lake band member says when he began seeking clarity regarding the finances, many of his fellow community members did not understand why he was so passionate about looking into the matter. Now that he has the support of his community, he also has some advice for anyone in a similar situation.

“At first, 95% of people did not support me. But now 95% of people do support me. Do not give up. Keep going. Another thing as well, do your research and communicate with a lot of people.”

Now that the records will soon be accessible, McCarthy and the CTF team plan to wait and see what the documents reveal.

“We can’t say for sure what happened to the money because we don’t have them [the documents] yet, and haven’t gone through it with that fine tooth comb. But I’m sure that as we do get those documents, find out from them what’s actually in there, we’ll have more to say if there is a problem or if it seems above board.”

Regardless of the information that comes to light in these financial records, Haubrich shared the judge siding in favour of releasing the documents will make the process easier for anyone who finds themselves in a similar circumstance going forward.

“This victory is important in the general fight for financial transparency. It sets the precedent that when band members go looking for these types of documents to find answers, the federal government has a duty to disclose them as well.”