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Top News - November - 2004
Published November 15, 2004
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MACSI report highlights thousands in misspending
Lampard finds problems with election
Courage of families honoured through awardWi ci ti zon offers a safe haven for teen girls
This is only a partial listing of the stories featured in the November 2004 issue of Saskatchewan Sage. If you are not receiving your own copy of Sage, then you have missed out on a lot.
MACSI report highlights thousands in misspending
Cheryl Petten, Sage Writer, Regina
Former members of the executive committee of the Métis Addictions Council of Saskatchewan Inc. (MACSI) misspent thousands of dollars in provincial funding that should have went to operation of the organization, says a report by Saskatchewan's provincial auditor.
The report, prepared by Fred Wendel and released by the province Oct. 29, states that between June 2001 and February 2004 funding received by MACSI from Saskatchewan Health "was not used appropriately, was not fully accounted for, and was not properly disposed of in accordance with the terms and conditions of the funding agreements."
The beginning of this period of questionable spending coincides with the decision of MASCI's newly appointed board of directors to take cheque-signing authority away from management and give it to the board chair and three other board members-the non-profit organization's four person executive committee. A few months later the board gave the executive committee authority to perform management duties. With this change the executive committee was in a position where it could both initiate expenditures and sign the cheques to pay for them.
Among the questionable spending outlined in the report was the payment of $321,000 to four contractors for renovations and repairs to MACSI's treatment centres. Of the total amount, only $189,000 went to pay for work that was actually done. The remaining $132,00 was paid out, but no work was done in return for payment. The auditor's review showed no evidence any of these expenditures received board approval and no evidence of the work going out for tender. Three of the four contractors weren't licensed businesses and there is no evidence any of the three actually did any work. The cheques to these unlicensed contractors were made out to individuals rather than to companies, with the board chair being one of the individuals receiving payment.
The report also points to questionable payments made to the board members for contractual services, honorariums and reimbursements for travel expenses. From 2001 through to 2004, the board chair received $162,087, the vice-chair $61,202, the secretary, $62, 507 and the treasurer $74,417. There was no record of the board approval any of the contracts for which the executive members were paid.
Wendel also calls into question the mileage costs claimed by the board chair in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, the chair was reimbursed $34,140 for travelling 100,973 km, while in 2004 he received $52,436 for 149,650 km.
"If the chair travelled every day of the year, he would have needed to drive an average of 410 km each day to accumulate the $149,650 km driven for the year ended March 31, 2004," the auditor states in the report. The vehicles driven by the chair to rack up this alleged mileage were leased by MACSI, with the organization paying for fuel, maintenance and repairs.
Other questionable spending included MACSI's leasing of a vehicle then assigning the vehicle to an employee of the Métis Employment and Training of Saskatchewan Inc., another organization operated by the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan but quite independent of MACSI, and the chair obtaining two corporate credit cards in his own name and using the cards for personal items, including vet bills, furniture, home repairs and a $314 cash advance at a casino.
This type of questionable spending continued, the provincial auditor states, until Saskatchewan Health relieved the board of their duties on Feb. 18, 2004. An interim board was then put in place, with Ray Laliberte, treasurer of the board of governors of the Gabriel Dumont Institute and Don Axtell, director of strategic development with the Crown Investments Corporation, as co-chairs. Métis Elder Michael Maurice and Shan Landry, vice-president of primary health for the Saskatoon Health Region, rounded out the interim board, which was given a one-year mandate.
An interim executive director, Dorothea Warren, associate executive director of Saskatchewan Community Resources and Employment's Child and Family Services division, was also appointed.
The auditor's report found fault with both the processes in place within MACSI and within Saskatchewan Health, stating MACSI didn't maintain the necessary records or have the proper rules and procedures in place to prevent misappropriation of funds while the provincial department didn't have the necessary processes in place to oversee MACSI operations to ensure all public money was spent wisely and on what it was intended for. The department also failed to "take prompt and appropriate action to remedy significant problems it knew, or should have known, about MACSI operations" until 2003, when it began receiving complaints that money was being misspent.
The provincial auditor makes 13 recommendations in his report, eight giving the MACSI board guidance in setting up policies and procedures to ensure this type of thing doesn't re-occur, and five to be implemented by the province. According to the province's response to the report, many of the recommendations have already been implemented or are in the process of being implemented.
The report calls for the authority and responsibility of the MACSI board and senior management to be clearly defined and for regular performance evaluations of all senior managers. Creation of a performance assessment process for the board is also recommended, along with development of business and financial plans, codes of conduct, conflict of interest policies and ways to ensure these policies are being adhered to.
Recommendations for the province include more careful monitoring of community-based organizations and changing its processes so it can respond more quickly to problems that may arise.
Fred Wendel also recommends that the department work with MACSI to determine exactly how much money the former executive committee owes the organization and make attempts to recover the money.
The report doesn't refer to any of the former board members by name, but according to information received from Saskatchewan Health, correspondence from MACSI and public records on file at the corporations branch show that during the period covered by the auditor's report Albert Delaire was the board chair, MaryAnne Gagnon was co-chair, Walter Schoenthal was treasurer and Henry Cummings was secretary. Three of these four names-Delaire, Gagnon and Cummings-also appear on another list, that of the new Provincial Métis Council which, although not officially recognized by the Saskatchewan government because of concerns about election regularities, was sworn in on Oct. 7.
A forensic audit of the MACSI books was ordered by Saskatchewan Health and, before the audit was completed, a decision was made to turn the file over to the RCMP commercial crime unit. The files were turned over on Sept. 1. That investigation is ongoing.
Lampard finds problems with election
Cheryl Petten, Sage Writer, Regina
The Saskatchewan government is continuing to withhold funding to the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan (MNS) and is refusing to recognize the MNS provincial council that was sworn into office on Oct. 7 after a review conducted by former provincial chief electoral officer Keith Lampard found a number of problems with the way the group ran its May 26 election.
With some of the complaints received, Lampard found no merit in the allegations being made, with others he found the complaints were valid but the questionable activities had no bearing on the final results of the election. Some of the complaints, however, dealt with circumstances so questionable they should have rendered the results of the vote at the polling stations in question invalid, altering the final results of the election.
These complaints ranged from having polling locations moved without notifying community members to having more than a hundred names added to a voters' list by the chief electoral officer when no one in the community, not even the post mistress at the post office where the people claim to have addresses, had ever heard of them. Scrutineers reported large numbers of votes being cast by non-Métis people; large numbers of signatures in poll books appear to have been written by the same person; 150 people voted at a poll in an inactive local when only 10 people voted there in the last election when the local was still active; a local with no eligible voters had 37 ballots cast; and addresses of bowling alleys and ball diamonds were listed in poll books as places of residence of those casting votes.
One particularly interesting complaint looked into by Lampard surrounded the vote in Cando, a small village between North Battleford and Biggar. Although estimates put the number of Métis people living in the community at eight or nine, the voters' list for the local had 71 names on it. Forty-five of those names could be identified by Métis people in the area. Included in those 45 was the name of one person who had been dead for three years-their name was listed twice. Another person, listed three times, moved to Alberta two years ago. The remaining 40 names included three more dead people, one person who has lived in Ontario for 20 years, two status Indians, one person currently in prison, and a number of people who no longer lived in the area.
Once these names were removed, only 10 eligible voters were left on the list, yet 26 of these people were listed in the poll books as having voted on election day.
In addition to these 26 names, 67 other names not on the voters' list are listed in the poll book as having voted in Cando.
In the end, Keith Lampard concluded that these types of problems meant that the province and the Métis people couldn't trust the results of the election.
Those results showed that presidential candidate Dwayne Roth had won the election, and Roth has assumed leadership of the MNS despite the concerns raised about the validity of the outcome. Repeated attempts to talk to Roth about the Lampard report and the ongoing controversy surrounding the election have been unsuccessful, but he has expressed his views many times through a series of press releases. In these statements he has called Lampard's review of the election a "witch hunt" and the report a "one-sided account based on hearsay."
Two days after the Nov. 1 release of Lampard's report, Roth announced that the MNS has filed legal action in the Court of Queen's Bench against both Lampard and the provincial government, seeking general damages in excess of $410,000-the amount of the frozen provincial funding-for their "callous disregard for the rights of the plaintiff, including its right to self-determination as recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, as part of a scheme designed to undermine the rights of the plaintiff and its citizenship."
Roth, who is acting as lawyer for the MNS in the case, has also undertaken a symbolic walk from Saskatoon to Regina to protest the government's stand. Roth is expected to arrive in Regina on Nov. 16, the 119th anniversary of the hanging of Louis Riel and is calling the walk the beginning of a modern day Métis rebellion.
In the meantime, Robert Doucette and Alex Maurice, the other two candidates who ran for the presidency of the MNS during the election, have formed a provisional Métis council. The goal of the group, Doucette said, is to force a new election for Saskatchewan's Métis people and to see that anyone who committed electoral fraud during the recent election faces charges.
The group is also hoping to meet with the province but, according to Maynard Sonntag, minister of First Nations and Métis Relations, that won't be happening anytime soon.
Sonntag said before he sits down to talk to any of the presidntial candidates he first wants to meet with unelected Métis leaders from across the province in order to determine what role, if any, the government should play in ensuring Métis people get a fair and independent election.
"What I don't want to do is to be in any position of even perceived bias right now because as the minister responsible I have the responsibility to Métis people across the province," Sonntag said.
"The consultation needs to start happening very, very quickly because I don't think we can leave this to simmer. We need to try to find a resolution."
Courage of families honoured through award
Darla Read, Sage Writer, Saskatoon
It has been a long, painful struggle for Jason Roy, but he says it was worth it.
On Nov. 5, Roy, his mother Mary and father Lawrence, along with Stella Bignell, Neil Stonechild's mother,were presented with an Elders Eagle Feather Award, a new award created by Elder Walter Linklater as a way to honour the families and recognize what they had been through during the inquiry into Stonechild's death.
Following a traditional ceremony hosted by Linklater and his wife Maria and the Saskatoon Indian and Métis Friendship Centre, each recipient received an eagle feather for their tenacity and courage in fighting for justice for Stonechild, explained Linklater. Bignell was unable to attend the ceremony, so she asked her friend, Helen Semaganis, to accept on her behalf.
"I'm honoured," said Semaganis, who told the crowd that Bignell was extremely grateful for the support and thankful for the eagle feather. "She says she is confident it will help her on her healing journey."
Roy said receiving the eagle feather showed his struggle wasn't for nothing.
"It's a humbling honour to be recognized for something that's caused me a lot of mental, emotional and spiritual pain," said Roy before the ceremony. "I would do it all again if I had to."
Roy testified at the inquiry that he saw Stonechild bleeding and pleading for help in the back of a police cruiser 14 years ago, the night his friend was last seen alive. Roy's testimony came under fire but he stood by his story and still does today.
So does his mother, Mary. As she accepted her award she broke down, asking why people wouldn't believe her son, saying he was telling the truth.
"It's hard not to cry when you see what my son and Neil Stonechild went through."
Stonechild's frozen body was found in the north industrial area of Saskatoon. The case was closed in a matter of days, with investigators concluding Stonechild froze to death while trying to reach the Saskatoon Correctional Centre to turn himself in, a claim that didn't sit well with his family.
The inquiry began in September 2003 and heard from numerous witnesses over a six-month period. The final report by Justice David Wright was made public on Oct. 26.
Roy was vindicated in that report, with Wright calling his testimony "credible and corroborated" by evidence.
The report also found that Stonechild was in the custody of two police officers, constables Larry Hartwig and Brad Senger, the night he was last seen, although it stopped short of saying the two dropped Stonechild off in the field where his body was found.
Both officers were suspended with pay the day the report was released, and Chief Russell Sabo said he accepted the findings of the inquiry.
Roy said he has some acceptance with everything that has happened.
"I need to stress 'some' acceptance," he said.
He won't have complete closure until the people who are responsible for Stonechild's death are held accountable.
"We have to stand up for justice," he said, telling people that if change won't come from within, it has to be forced, like in the Stonechild case.
"I'm just glad I could play a small part in that."Wi ci ti zon offers a safe haven for teen girls
Deirdre Tombs, Sage Writer, Keeseekoose First Nation
According to Saskatchewan Health, alcohol and drug addiction among the province's youth is double the national average. And, according to a 2001 report, Aboriginal women made up two-thirds of substance abusers in Saskatchewan despite the fact that Aboriginal people made up only nine per cent of the entire provincial population. Those startling statistics are what make centres like the Wi ci ti zon treatment group home necessary.
Wi ci ti zon is one of only a few places in Saskatchewan where teenaged Aboriginal girls can turn for help in facing addictions and other problems, and it took a lot of dedication to build it.
Chief Philip Quewezance of the Keeseekoose First Nation had been a social worker for eight years when he decided to set up a resource centre for troubled teen girls. During his employment with Saskatchewan social services he found that there were few places for First Nation girls to get help.
Quewezance teamed up with fellow social worker Robert Stevenson, now the program manager, to get funding. He attributes their work experience for their success in getting the treatment centre up and running.
"We worked together with the province and we had a clear understanding of what mandate they had and what to access. We had a strong background in social work so we knew where to go with it," explained Quewezance.
Determined to help their youth, the Keeseekoose First Nation was also instrumental in making the project happen. "We got donations in terms of setting up the rooms, like $1,000 a room from different sponsors, but as far as the actual building costs, which was over a quarter million dollars, that came from Keeseekoose itself," said Quewezance.
The 12- bed facility was up and running nine months after the process began, with its first client arriving April 17, 2001. Three-and-a-half years later, the facility has been home to more than 100 girls from 11 to 17 years of age.
Substance abuse is a symptom of greater problems, and that's why the group home offers a holistic and culturally based healing experience. "We're talking about sexual abuse, abandonment issues, grieving, drug and alcohol, a lot of relationship building, low self-esteem, suicidal tendency," said Quewezance. "You're dealing with a youth that have some serious behaviour problems, and just working them back into the community and regular school systems."
For alcohol and drug addiction treatment, the centre starts with awareness.
"Some of them don't even know that they're addicted to it," explained Stevenson. "We get away from the drugs ... to have a look at it from the outside in. 'This is how we are when we're sober,'compared to what you are when you're stoned or high."
The staff uses the community resources that are available to the centre to talk about the effects of alcohol and drugs. They bring in the RCMP and ex-substance abusers as guest speakers and the staff share their own life experiences. The goal is to demonstrate that what the girls are experiencing has been lived by somebody else already and that it is possible to get through it. Stevenson called this "reality therapy."
One of the reasons Wi ci ti zon is important to the community is because there are not other centres like it that are First Nations owned and that employs First Nations workers, Stevenson said. With that, he said, comes cultural sensitivity. Elders often visit the group home to teach the girls about their culture, and the centre encourages home visits for cultural ceremonies and powwows.
Many of the girls have been taught to mistrust non-Aboriginal people, one of the legacies of the abuse suffered by their parents and grandparents in the residential schools. These girls find it hard to trust non-Aboriginal counsellors and social workers, added Stevenson, making centres like Wi ci ti zon that much more valuable.
Richelle Kakakaway, a 17-year-old from White Bear First Nation, said she feels lucky to have gone to Wi ci ti zon. "They let me know that there's other girls around Saskatchewan that are going through the same things," she said.
"When you go to the group home there will be ups and downs but going there, you will become stronger."
According to Stevenson, it takes up to two months for a girl to unlearn her negative habits. "Then a month or two down the line it's good to hear the laughter that's coming from them. It sounds like a kid again, you know. That's when we're getting to them, when we're making them enjoy life as a kid again."
Although Kakakaway did not go to the group home for a drug or alcohol addiction, she did admit to occasional substance abuse, something her time at Wi ci ti zon has helped her come to terms with.
"[The staff] can show you how to have fun without the drugs or the alcohol. They joke around too, but they're also serious enough to talk to you and you can trust them. I believe you can trust them all," said Kakakaway.
"The girls develop such good relationships with the staff that it's unbelievable. You don't see that with other group homes, you know, other non-Aboriginal group homes," Stevenson said.
Kakakaway said her change in attitude towards herself, her family and her life was the biggest benefit of coming to Wi ci ti zon. Before she went to the group home, she said, she had no goals. Now after finishing high school she plans to go on a one-year student exchange to another country then return home to pursue a degree, probably in arts at the University of Regina.