FNUC report delayed

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The seven-member task force appointed to look into the controversy dogging the First Nations University of Canada (FNUC) has asked for more time to work on its report.

Creation of the task force was called for in a resolution from the floor at the FSIN chiefs' assembly on June 8. The members were selected by the FNUC board of governors on July 29 and were asked to file a report within 45 days. If they'd met that deadline, the task force would have reported at the fall chiefs' assembly scheduled for Oct. 19 and 20 in Saskatoon. Elections for the second and fourth vice-chief of the FSIN are also scheduled for that session. The report is now expected in November.

FNUC professor Del Anaquod and Muskeg Lake First Nation Chief Harry Lafond are the co-chairs of the task force. The other members are former Lac La Ronge Chief Harry Cook, Elder Tony Cote, past president of the University of Saskatchewan, George Ivany, Regina lawyer Merrilee Rasmussen and student Jessica General. At least four of the seven-Lafond, Cook, Cote and Rasmussen-have current or past ties to the FSIN.

The chiefs called for the review as students protested and media reports were suggesting the end was near for FNUC. The troubles became visible for the first time on Feb. 17-the same day that a memo signed by Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Chief Alphonse Bird authorized Vice-chief Morley Watson to look into "alleged inappropriate conduct" at FNUC. On that day, Watson suspended three administrators-vice-president Wes Stevenson, finance director Kim Sinclair and Leonzo Barreno, director of international programs. All three were escorted from the campus and the other university staff members were told to go home for the day.

Wes Stevenson was fired on May 12. Two weeks later, on May 26, FSIN Senator Theresa Stevenson, Wes Stevenson's mother, was relieved of her senatorial duties. She claimed it was because she spoke up in defense of her son at the FSIN winter legislative assembly.

On June 13, Eber Hampton, who had served as the university's president since 1991, announced he was stepping down. Dawn Tato, dean of FNUC's Regina campus, was fired in July for criticizing the university administration. Other firings, resignations and demotions followed.

When the task force finally does hand down its report, a lot of people will be watching. Many academics are watching to see if this bold experiment can survive. The Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), the organization that can take away FNUC's accreditation as a recognized institution of higher learning, has demanded an explanation. Government funders are holding back money waiting for the smoke to clear.

One Native professor from another university, who asked not to be identified, said a key question that needed to be answered is: How much "university" is there in the First Nations University of Canada?

Observers are hopeful the task force is making an honest effort to sort it out and that effort will be free of political influence. While it would be unthinkable for the premier of Saskatchewan to be on the board of governors and making management decisions at the University of Saskatchewan, that is essentially what is going on at FNUC at the moment, academic sources say.

And in a mainstream university, professors who have secured tenure can simply not be fired unless they commit an extremely serious criminal offense. But at FNUC, several academics that criticized the administration were fired or demoted for insubordination.

That is seen by the academic community as a serious breach of academic freedom, the most cherished bedrock of university life and something seen as essential to the genuine pursuit of knowledge.

Observers are also wondering if the task force will look at the 32-member board of directors that has budgeted in excess of $600,000 for expenses for this fiscal year, far more-by any means of comparison-than any other postsecondary institution in the country.

Tyrone Tootoosis was relieved of his duties as artist-in-residence at FNUC. His wife, Winona Wheeler, lost her position as dean of the Saskatoon campus of FNUC after she spoke out against the FSIN incursion into the school. Tootoosis, an actor as well as an artist, has also been active as a member of the First Nation Coalition for Accountability, a grassroots group that calls for more accountability and transparency for First Nation governments. He is not popular with the chiefs and there are more than a dozen current or former chiefs on the FNUC board of governors.

Tootoosis was asked if he thought the task force asked for more time to avoid having this issue raised at the fall assembly.

"It could very well be the reason. However, I think we want to give the benefit of the doubt to the task force," he said. "As such, it may well be that their need for additional time is a result of the rather unprofessional manner in which the FSIN assembled the task force."

He was referring to the fact that well-respected Native Provincial Court Judge Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond discovered she was on the task force when informed by a reporter. She quickly had her name removed.

With so many people on the political side absorbing so much money from the FNUC budget even though money is now tight due to all the problems, the grassroots activist was asked if he knew what the task force members were being paid. He said the going rate in Saskatchewan is about $1,000 a day but added that "how much" is not the issue.

"What is an issue is where is this money coming from? Is it coming from the already beleaguered FNUC budget? It seems, from all reports that FNUC cannot bear further incursions on their already difficult financial situation."