A recent community band meeting revealed Chiniki’s deficit has increased by approximately $1 million since last year.
“We are a community but also an organization so we have to run like both,” said Favour Simoongew, Chiniki CEO.
Chiniki band members filled the seats at the Bearspaw Youth Centre gym on June 19 as Chiniki Chief, councillors, CFO and CEO discussed the current financial situation. The current deficit sits between $5.3 million and $5.6 million, while the 2016-2017 financial year statement is under audit, an approximate $1 million increase from the $4.5 million deficit reported last October.
The majority of comments were in the Iyãhé Nakoda language but some band members voiced their concerns in English saying the Chiniki band needs more “transparency.”
“Politics is not Indigenous that’s why it doesn’t work for us,” said one Chiniki resident.
During the five-hour-long meeting, the Chiniki CFO Paul Chiasson showcased the plan on how to pay off the deficit, including creating a surplus budget and focusing on economic development and sustainability.
“We are anticipating a surplus for the fiscal year,” Chiasson said.
The CFO attributed the deficit to a number of issues in the previous years where deficits were incurred on an annual basis due to create employment, spending on education and training (including college and post-secondary) and housing.
“We are just trying to live in the mandate,” Chiasson said.
One elder commented that the deficit was everyone’s responsibility and band members need to stop “blaming each other instead of fixing the problem … we need to ask ourselves, ‘How are we going to work together?’’
The meeting wrapped up early as the band was only allowed to use the space until 4 p.m. but Simoongew offered an open door policy for the band inviting members to voice their concerns at the office and said there will be additional follow up meetings to further discuss issues.
