Saskatoon Tribal Council wants meetings after audit of FSIN: ‘Embarrassed’

Saskatoon Tribal Council and other chiefs of First Nations communities in Saskatchewan are calling for meetings immediately after a forensic audit of FSIN.

Saskatoon Tribal Council’s chief and other First Nations communities are demanding answers and calling for change after an audit found “questionable” expenses by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN).

The audit, made public this week, found $34 million in expenditures between April 2019 and March 2024 that it deemed “questionable,” with about $3.7 million deemed “ineligible.”

“I was embarrassed,” Saskatoon Tribal Council Chief Mark Arcand told reporters.

Conducted by KPMG LLP on behalf of Indigenous Services Canada’s Assessment and Investigation Services Branch (AISB), the audit was launched after AISB received allegations about a lack of transparency in the organizations, as well as concerns about its expenses and use of administration fees.

“You’ll hear other chiefs talk about our struggles as First Nations people,” said Arcand. “Underfunded, right? Lack of housing, lack of investments, that’s important to all of us … When this number came out, I was embarrassed because I was like how could our leadership do this to our people?”

FSIN represents 74 Saskatchewan First Nations.

Arcand said he’s concerned about a lack of communication and who is being held accountable.

“When we think about the organization, we think of the people. This money belongs to the people, to the grassroots people, it’s there to make a difference in people’s lives,” Arcand said. “Somebody’s making these bad decisions inside and we have to get to the bottom of this.”