2 Councillors quit: Books don't balance at Buffalo Lake

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The past council of the Buffalo Lake Metis Settlement has not been able to account for a $268,590 deficit.

At a January 19 general membership meeting of the settlement, a motion by a Buffalo Lake resident that an audit be conducted of all the settlement's financial accounts was passed unanimously.

A financial review was conducted by St. Paul District Settlement Branch Manager Dennis Woolsey and released on March 24. A summary of the review says the settlement owes outside industries $154,590. The settlements-owned Buffalo Lake Cast Const. Ltd. also owes $114,000 to other Buffalo Lake organizations.

When the deficit was found, council members Ernest Howse Sr. and Mervin Desjarlais announced their resignations. A special Council Meeting was held on April 4 to decide when the settlement could nominate and elect a new council.

Only two members of the four-man council attended the special meeting, though settlement regulations require the whole board to be present at the meetings.

Section 7, paragraph 4 of the regulations state: "The Board (council) may, by unanimous consent, waive notice of any meeting and hold a meeting at any time, but every member of the Board must be present at such a meeting."

Missing from the meeting were Edward Ladouceur and the two resigned councillors, Howse and Desjarlais.

The settlement regulations also require that any member resigning from council must be present at the meeting where their resignation is considered. This was not done.

The meeting was attended by councillors Glen Auger and Horace Patenaude, who moved to set the nominations on April 6 and voting for the council of the settlement on April 21.

Auger and Patenaude were nominated for the council. But because they were still on the council according to the regulations, they were no eligible to be nominated until their terms expired on April 21. Both men have subsequently been elected to the council.

The other council members are Harold Blyan, Felix Desjarlais and Edward Ladouceur. Ladouceur is in the final year of his three-year term.