Could the MNC-MMF be next?
Deputy Minister's Concerns Sparked Audit
Tueday Feb 19, 2008
By Mia Rabson
The Winnipeg Free Press
OTTAWA -- An ongoing audit of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's regional office in Manitoba goes back several years and arose because of concerns of the department's deputy minister, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl told the Free Press on Monday. Strahl spoke about the audit publicly for the first time in an interview where he reflected on his first six months at the Indian affairs portfolio.
He said he couldn't talk about any of the findings because the investigation is ongoing and said there is no deadline for when it will be finished.
"You bring in an outside auditor when you want an outside, neutral party to evaluate how money is being spent," said Strahl. "The deputy minister felt there were enough anomalies that he needed to bring in an outside team."
Strahl said the auditors are looking at documents and files "stretching back several years." His department is conducting internal management reviews of all its regional offices and started with Manitoba in 2007 because it had a significant number of anonymous complaints. The findings of that review sparked the full outside audit which is being conducted by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting.
In December 2007, three senior bureaucrats at INAC Manitoba were escorted out of the downtown Winnipeg offices and placed on paid leave, including regional director Mary Blais, associate director Martin Egan and Fred Mills, the associate director of funding services operations. INAC Manitoba oversees delivery of the department's programs and services to aboriginal people, mostly on reserve, including health care, education and housing. The office also works with chiefs and councils on treaty land entitlement and economic development.
Sources have told the Free Press there is a lot of unrest and unhappiness at INAC's Manitoba offices, including high staff turnover and low morale. INAC set up an anonymous tip line to encourage workers to come forward with their complaints.
Investigators have also spoken with several firms who did contract work for INAC or individual reserves in Manitoba.
The audit is also likely looking at how $55 million was spent on the Manitoba Framework Initiative Agreement -- a plan heralded as the pathway to self government for Manitoba First Nations but which failed to accomplish any of its major goals over more than a decade of negotiations from 1994 until 2007.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs quietly disbanded negotiations on the agreement in January 2007.
Last week, Manitoba Grand Chief Ron Evans said he is concerned about the absence of the senior bureaucrats, saying it was affecting some programs and funding for bands in Manitoba. He said the discretion of those bureaucrats to make decisions and bend the rules has been the only way First Nations in Manitoba get the things they need to survive and the interim management team is not knowledgeable enough about many of the programs to ensure they continue to operate without disruption.
Strahl expressed some concern about the idea that rules were being bent at INAC in Manitoba and said discretion is necessary but it still has to be done within the acceptable standards and practices.
"I had a First Nations chief in my office and he said he doesn't want side deals," said Strahl. "He wants to know what the rules and he wants to play by the rules." Strahl said if there is too much rule-bending, people end up bowing to political pressures.Strahl said in his first six months he counts as one of his proudest achievements finally passing legislation extending the charter of human rights onto First Nations in Canada.
"That's something First Nations have been waiting for 30 years," said Strahl.
In addition to the audit in Manitoba, Strahl is also being pressured to address funding inequities in child and family service delivery to on-reserve kids.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
Tueday Feb 19, 2008
By Mia Rabson
The Winnipeg Free Press
OTTAWA -- An ongoing audit of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada's regional office in Manitoba goes back several years and arose because of concerns of the department's deputy minister, Indian Affairs Minister Chuck Strahl told the Free Press on Monday. Strahl spoke about the audit publicly for the first time in an interview where he reflected on his first six months at the Indian affairs portfolio.
He said he couldn't talk about any of the findings because the investigation is ongoing and said there is no deadline for when it will be finished.
"You bring in an outside auditor when you want an outside, neutral party to evaluate how money is being spent," said Strahl. "The deputy minister felt there were enough anomalies that he needed to bring in an outside team."
Strahl said the auditors are looking at documents and files "stretching back several years." His department is conducting internal management reviews of all its regional offices and started with Manitoba in 2007 because it had a significant number of anonymous complaints. The findings of that review sparked the full outside audit which is being conducted by Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton Consulting.
In December 2007, three senior bureaucrats at INAC Manitoba were escorted out of the downtown Winnipeg offices and placed on paid leave, including regional director Mary Blais, associate director Martin Egan and Fred Mills, the associate director of funding services operations. INAC Manitoba oversees delivery of the department's programs and services to aboriginal people, mostly on reserve, including health care, education and housing. The office also works with chiefs and councils on treaty land entitlement and economic development.
Sources have told the Free Press there is a lot of unrest and unhappiness at INAC's Manitoba offices, including high staff turnover and low morale. INAC set up an anonymous tip line to encourage workers to come forward with their complaints.
Investigators have also spoken with several firms who did contract work for INAC or individual reserves in Manitoba.
The audit is also likely looking at how $55 million was spent on the Manitoba Framework Initiative Agreement -- a plan heralded as the pathway to self government for Manitoba First Nations but which failed to accomplish any of its major goals over more than a decade of negotiations from 1994 until 2007.
The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs quietly disbanded negotiations on the agreement in January 2007.
Last week, Manitoba Grand Chief Ron Evans said he is concerned about the absence of the senior bureaucrats, saying it was affecting some programs and funding for bands in Manitoba. He said the discretion of those bureaucrats to make decisions and bend the rules has been the only way First Nations in Manitoba get the things they need to survive and the interim management team is not knowledgeable enough about many of the programs to ensure they continue to operate without disruption.
Strahl expressed some concern about the idea that rules were being bent at INAC in Manitoba and said discretion is necessary but it still has to be done within the acceptable standards and practices.
"I had a First Nations chief in my office and he said he doesn't want side deals," said Strahl. "He wants to know what the rules and he wants to play by the rules." Strahl said if there is too much rule-bending, people end up bowing to political pressures.Strahl said in his first six months he counts as one of his proudest achievements finally passing legislation extending the charter of human rights onto First Nations in Canada.
"That's something First Nations have been waiting for 30 years," said Strahl.
In addition to the audit in Manitoba, Strahl is also being pressured to address funding inequities in child and family service delivery to on-reserve kids.
mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca
posted by Clare L. Pieuk at 5:38 AM
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