‘FSIN is not above the rules’: First Nation chiefs demand explanation following forensic audit

WATCH: A number of First Nations leaders in Saskatoon say the FSIN is leaving its people in the dark.

A group of First Nations leaders gathering in Saskatoon Friday say the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) is leaving its people in the dark, and they’re demanding accountability and transparency moving forward.

“This is not proper,” Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand said. “This is $34 million that’s unaccounted for. We need the executive to stand up and tell the truth. What is happening?”

Earlier this week, Indigenous Services Canada released a summary of findings of a forensic audit into FSIN spending from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2024. KPMG, who performed the audit, reviewed more than $47.1 million in transactions and flagging $34.2 million worth of them.

The expenses separated $3.7 million as “ineligible,” $30.3 million as “questionable” and $155,595 as “unsupported.”

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Arcand, who serves on the FSIN treasury board says he has become used to being unable to access important information. During Friday’s news conference, he showed reporters large documents that aren’t widely shared among chiefs, and examples of budgets with vague or incomplete information.

“Start taking some responsibility,” Arcand said.

Arcand says members of the treasury board were invited to see the preliminary findings of ISC’s audit on Sept. 11. He says FSIN executive didn’t defend itself or dispute any of the findings, and he’s very nervous that leadership couldn’t offer an explanation 18 months after the audit period ended

“There (were) no actual receipts, no documentation. That is a problem, but everybody else had to comply. The FSIN is not above the rules,” Arcand said.

Arcand and other chiefs and councillors from Flying Dust First Nation, James Smith Cree Nation, Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, White Bear First Nation among others say internal policies need to be followed and changes need to be made to keep future leaders from making questionable spending moving forward.

“Confidence in this leadership is gone,” James Smith Cree Nation Chief Kirby Constant said. “We need accountability, transparency and return to the principles of integrity the way our ancestors envisioned.”

Constant and Arcand were two of the many speakers asking FSIN leadership to end its silence and explain themselves. Multiple requests from CTV News remain unanswered.

A majority of the questionable spending flagged is more than $23 million of COVID-19 funding. Muskeg Lake Cree Nation Chief Kelly Wolfe says people on First Nations were dying, and he alleges the FSIN executive was corrupt.

“This was a time when our FSIN executive were developing blueprints on how to benefit themselves,” he said. “This is very wrong, and it needs to be addressed.”

Indigenous Services made eight recommendations aimed at increasing budgeting, invoicing and documentation to better keep track of federal funding.

In a statement, the government department says it is committed to accountability and transparency, ensuring public funds are used for their intended purpose and to benefit the community. It says it has procedures to ensure appropriate action is taken when required.

“We will continue to monitor this matter in the context of those recommendations, and will consult with any appropriate authorities as required,” the statement said.

The chiefs gathered in Saskatoon on Friday say emergency meetings must happen immediately to address the federal audit before the FSIN general assembly in October.