aboriginal affairs – David Akin’s On The Hill

Earlier today, Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development published, on its Web site, an audit into the finances of the Attawapiskat First Nation. The audit covers the period from 2005-2011. Theresa Spence was the deputy chief from 2007 until 2010 and since 2010 has been the band’s chief.

In a letter, dated August 28, sent to Chief Spence and which forms part of the audit, auditors Deloitte Touche said:

“…we were unable to conclude whether the claimed expenditures were in accordance with the terms and conditions of the funding agreements between Attawapiskat First Nation and AANDC and Health Canada, respectively. The lack of financial management controls to support compliance with the terms and conditions of the agreements is inconsistent with the requirements of the funding agreements with the Government of Canada. We were unable to determine if the funds were spent for their intended purpose.

There is no evidence of due diligence in the use of public funds, including the use of funds for housing.”

Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan did not take questions from reporters today but issued this statement through a spokesperson: “The independent audit from Deloitte and Touche LLP speaks for itself, and we accept its conclusions and recommendations.”

Chief Spence, like Duncan, did not take questions from reporters today but, a few minutes ago, issued this statement:

For immediate release:
January 7, 2013, Victoria Island, traditional territory of the Algonquian Peoples….a controversial leaked audit (which was completed last September), is no more than a distraction of the true issue and to discredit Chief Spence who Continue reading Chief Theresa Spence: "controversial leaked audit no more than a distraction"

In a fascinating and provocative essay titled “Boundaries among Kin: Sovereignty, the Modern Treaty Process, and the Rise of Ethno-Territorial Nationalism,” Cornell University Professor Paul Nadasdy argues that land claims agreements and negotiations between the Canadian government and Canadian First Nations have, at least in some instances, led to the “the rise of ethno-territorial nationalisms among First Nations.” Moreover Nadasdy presents the thesis that the very act of trying to transfer power, governance, and control from the so-called colonial power — that would be Canada — to First Nations is itself a colonizing act because, Nadasdy says, it “implicitly devalue[s] aboriginal forms of socio-political organization [and] it is also helping transform First Nation society in radical and often unintended ways. One of the most significant aspects of this transformation is the emergence among Yukon First Nation peoples of multiple ethno-territorial identities and corresponding nationalist sentiments.”

Continue reading Joe Johnson gets a hunting license