The Chiniki Band revealed it is running a $4.5 million deficit at a recent meeting, where administration clearly stated chief and council would not be taking pay cuts to help remediate the cost.
“We overspent on several areas, the business had a significant deficit, we overspent on band assistance and housing and we went over on our budget and wages,” said Lindsay Blackett, Chiniki band CEO, adding that $1 million of the deficit had been carried over from the 2014 fiscal year.
While Chiniki announced this year’s multi-million-dollar shortfall, both the Bearspaw and Wesley bands showed surpluses – $2.3 million and 3.2 million respectively – during the meeting hosted by the Wesley Band at the Chief Goodstoney Rodeo Centre on Sept. 30. Those surpluses give the StoneyNation and overall surplus of approximately $900,000.
In a letter sent more than two months ago to Ken Christensen, the acting tribal administrator for all three Stoney Nakoda Nation bands (Chiniki, Wesley and Bearspaw), Bearspaw Chief Darcy Dixon and Wesley Chief Ernest Wesley wrote the remedial plan stating all payments to Chiniki First Nation from the Stoney Tribal Administration were to be halted “immediately.” Those payments were to include the Chiniki Chief and council pay, fees and travel, and payroll of the Chiniki First Nation.
“No substantive action has been taken by the Chiniki First Nation to implement its Remedial Plan under BCR 2016-027 and the Bearspaw First Nation’s and Wesley First Nation’s surpluses are financing the Chiniki First Nation’s deficits and overall the Stoney Nations are now reaching a critical cash flow situation,” the letter stated.
Since the Transparency Act, enacted in 2013, First Nations bands in Canada were required to publish their financial statements. That ended in 2015 when the Canadian government announced it was halting compliance measures that required bands to post detailed financial information.
None of the bands financials were posted online for the 2015 fiscal year, but the posted 2014 financial records stated that for four chiefs and 16 councillors wages topped $2 and expenses exceeded $1 million.
“I was told we had a balanced budget a month before the end of the fiscal year then we looked into it and came up with a remedial plan … all three bands at some point or another have been in a deficit at one point or another,” Blackett said.
At the Wesley meeting, members from all bands were present questioning the status of the Nation and asking why Chiniki was running a deficit.
“Has chief and council taken action to reduce their salaries,” Trent Fox asked.
Christensen said no.
Before the remedial plan was set into action, Blackett said it was the responsibility of the Chiniki chief financial officer (CFO) to sign off on expenditures and it was Blackett’s responsibility to sign off on expenditures over $2,500.
“I glanced at (the financials) on a monthly basis and asked questions … but I left it up to other people to reduce expenditures,” Blackett said.
Since the remedial plan was put into action in July, the CFO has gone on “short-term disability leave” and it is now the responsibility of Blackett to sign off on expenditures exceeding $100.
The Wesley Chief had no comment.
FACTBOX
Chiniki First Nation remedial plan includes:
The Chiniki CEO will issue payroll change notices (or equivalent) immediately to reduce Wages to the annual budgeted level.
The Chiniki CEO shall be only person to issue future Payroll Change Notices.
The Chiniki CEO shall be the sole signing authority on expenditures exceeding $100.
The Chiniki CEO shall take all other actions required to ensure actual expenses do not exceed budget expenses in each expense category.
The actual expense in each expense category shall be strictly limited to the budget expenses in each expense category: cheques and payments beyond the budgeted amount are prohibited.
The Chiniki CEOshall be the sole signing authority for “Budget Adjustments.”
All bank accounts outside the approved arrangements of Stoney Tribal Council shall immediately be closed and all funds transferred to the appropriate Chiniki band account.
