MACLEOD: Open the books — First Nations governments should meet the same accountability standards as everyone else

There is an entrenched “indigenous industry” in Canada — not ordinary indigenous families, elders, workers, or children, but a professional ecosystem of federal departments, band political insiders, consultants, lawyers, lobbyists, academics, activists, non-profit administrators, media voices, and reconciliation contractors who are funded, directly or indirectly, by Ottawa’s never-ending management of First Nations poverty. The federal government supplies the money, controls the framework, writes the language, and amply rewards those who repeat its preferred messaging: more programs, more announcements, more symbolism, more process, and very little accountability for any actual results.Many people inside this industry have a financial interest in keeping the current system alive, because real transparency, clean audits, local accountability, and measurable outcomes would threaten the very model that pays them. The tragedy is that the people most harmed by this arrangement are not only taxpayers but also ordinary First Nations members, who are too often left with poor housing, weak services, limited opportunities, and no clear answer to the most basic question in public life: where did the money go?So there are conversations that Canada has avoided for far too long. One of them is the financial accountability of First Nations governments. Let us begin this conversation in Alberta.At Alexander First Nation, a forensic audit reported roughly $2.1 million in unexplained payments to eight officials and administrators. The findings included unexplained credit card bills, cash advances, and casino-related withdrawals. This was not a minor bookkeeping dispute. It was a serious warning sign about public money, weak controls, and the lack of reliable consequences..At Frog Lake First Nation, public financial reports showed a decline of roughly $120 million in net assets over a five-year period. Later audited statements also raised concerns about missing records and limited verification. Whatever the final explanation, ordinary members were right to ask the obvious question: how does that much community wealth disappear from the books without an immediate, transparent, enforceable accounting?At Stoney Nakoda, members representing Chiniki, Goodstoney, and Bearspaw went to court seeking financial reports they said were required under federal transparency law. Think about that for a moment. Band members had to sue their own government to obtain information that should have been publicly available in the first place.At Siksika Nation, an audit reportedly raised concerns about fraud and mismanagement, including allegations that cheques were improperly issued. Again, this is not about smearing a community. It is about recognizing a pattern: when large sums of public and community money move through political structures without hard disclosure rules, abuse becomes easier and ordinary citizens are left with very few tools. That should concern every Albertan.Every municipality in Alberta must account for public money. Provincial departments are audited. Public companies, charities, school boards, non-profits, unions, and agencies all operate under reporting rules. Yet when the issue becomes First Nations governance, Ottawa retreats into sentimental language about partnership, reconciliation, and nation-to-nation relationships while avoiding the serious business of enforcement. Why?Stephen Harper’s government understood, at least on this file, that transparency was not optional. The First Nations Financial Transparency Act required First Nations governments to prepare and publish audited consolidated financial statements, along with schedules showing remuneration and expenses for chiefs and councillors. The purpose of the law was clear: enhance financial accountability and transparency..That was not an attack on indigenous people. It was a defence of indigenous citizens’ right to know what their own governments were doing with public money. It was also a defence of taxpayers, who fund much of this system and have every right to demand proper reporting. The principle is sound: if public money is being spent, the public must be able to see the books.Then Justin Trudeau was elected in 2015, and one of the first things his government did was stop enforcing the law. On December 18, 2015, former indigenous affairs minister Carolyn Bennett announced that the department would cease discretionary compliance measures, reinstate funding that had been withheld, and suspend court actions against non-compliant First Nations.Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government walked away from accountability and enforcement.That decision sent a terrible message. It told band members that if their leadership refused to disclose, the federal government would not firmly stand behind them. It told taxpayers that federal money could continue flowing without the same level of transparency expected almost everywhere else. It told responsible First Nations leaders, who do publish and properly account, that they would be politically lumped in with those who refuse or delay disclosure..Worst of all, it preserved the very Indian Act dependency model that has failed so many indigenous families for multiple generations..Lack of accountability does not punish the wealthy consultant, the political insider, or the well-connected administrator. They usually do just fine. It punishes the young mother waiting for decent housing. It punishes the elder whose community infrastructure is failing. It punishes the student who needs better schools. It punishes the ordinary member who asks hard questions and is told to be quiet and trust the process.Alberta taxpayers have a direct stake in this. Federal dollars come from every working Albertan. We have been one of the largest net contributors to Confederation for decades. Albertans disproportionately help fund the federal government, and the federal government helps fund First Nations programs. That gives Albertans every right to demand modern, enforceable public auditing standards for every First Nation government that receives taxpayer-backed funding.A serious accountability regime would be straightforward. Every First Nation in Alberta receiving federal or provincial public funds should publish annual audited consolidated financial statements. Chief and council remuneration and expenses should be disclosed. Related-party transactions should be reported. Band-owned corporations that receive public support or hold community assets should be included in consolidated reporting. Trust and settlement funds should be audited independently. Program money should be traceable to outcomes.This is not rocket science. Housing money should be connected to houses. Education money should be connected to classrooms, teachers, completion rates, and student outcomes. Infrastructure money should be connected to completed infrastructure. If the money is spent properly, the records should prove it. If the records cannot prove it, taxpayers and band members are most certainly entitled to ask why.There must also be consequences. Late filings should trigger compliance measures. Repeated refusal should trigger independent oversight of specific funds, not as punishment, but as protection for members and taxpayers. Whistleblowers inside First Nations administrations should have legal protection. Members should have a direct right to obtain records without the need for expensive court action. Ottawa should not be allowed to hide behind soft language while ordinary people are left in the dark..There is also a political lesson here for Alberta’s future.In an independent Alberta, First Nations should be offered a clear, respectful choice. They can join the new country as equal and equivalent Albertans, with full rights, full protections, accountable local governance, property security, economic opportunity, and a direct partnership with a government located here, not 3,000 kilometres away in Ottawa. That path would mean transparency, modern administration, and the same standards expected of every other public government in Alberta.Or, if they so choose, they can remain tied to the current federal model: the Indian Act structure, Ottawa dependency, opaque funding, weak enforcement, political theatre, and the familiar cycle where billions are announced, consultants prosper, communities struggle, and nobody can quite explain where all the money went.That corrupt path is not the path of ordinary First Nations people. It is the path of the current federal system: unaccountable, paternalistic, performative, and far too comfortable for those who benefit from keeping things exactly as they are.Neither Albertans nor First Nations members should accept this. Accountability is not an insult. It is the foundation of self-government. If public money is being spent in Alberta, then Albertans, indigenous and non-indigenous alike, deserve open books, clean audits, and honest answers.

MACLEOD: Open the books — First Nations governments should meet the same accountability standards as everyone else

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