A forensic audit has uncovered hundreds of thousands of dollars in budget irregularities at Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation in northern Saskatchewan, but the Department of Indigenous Services has refused to release the full report.
Blacklock's Reporter says the audit, conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers, was launched after multiple complaints alleged financial mismanagement.
The investigation found $20,063 in ineligible spending and $523,784 in unsupported expenditures. While the smaller amount has been recovered, the department remains in discussions with the First Nation regarding the more than half-million dollars in undocumented spending.
Auditors were hired to examine 19 allegations related to financial irregularities and misuse of departmental funds.
Although details of the complaints were not disclosed, the report recommended stronger financial oversight, including requiring written contracts, allowing open bidding on contracts, retaining all cost-related documents, and reviewing cellphone allowances.
Between 2016 and 2020, the First Nation received approximately $74.3 million from Indigenous Services and an additional $311,895 from the First Nations and Inuit Health Branch.
The audit period coincided with a surge in federal spending after the government split Indigenous Affairs into two new departments — Crown-Indigenous Relations and Indigenous Services.
Public Accounts show related spending more than doubled from $10.3 billion to $23.3 billion.
Despite the increase, Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux told a 2023 Commons committee that the expanded spending had not led to clear improvements in program outcomes.
He noted the number of federal employees at Indigenous Services had grown from 4,500 to about 9,200, stating,
“It’s not common to see a level of increase of that magnitude that is not accompanied by a significant improvement of performance indicators.”
