Province's hands tied over missing cash

Page 12

A First Nation citizen who refused to look the other way has caused a lot of controversy in southern Manitoba.

Margaret Clearsky, a probation worker employed by the Waywayseecappo First Nation, went to the band office on Aug. 19 to look at the band's audit report and see if there was any money for a family violence workshop. As she flipped through the pages of the audit she spotted something.

"I had to go by page 69 to get there," she told Windspeaker. "Big, black capital letters saying 'SHORTAGE OF FUNDS' is what caught my eye. I followed the line and it was at $74,000. Directly below that, in the same big black letters it said 'spiritual guidance, $20,165.'"

The auditors had discovered that the money was missing from the band's video lottery terminal (VLT) account. Waywayseecappo is one of 27 of the province's First Nations that runs a provincially licensed VLT gaming centre. Under the agreement with the province, First Nations keep 90 per cent of the proceeds and the province gets 10 per cent to cover administration costs.

Clearsky, who returned to her home community in 1995 after working for the provincial government for 20 years, sent off a letter to the chief and council two days later expressing her concerns.

She said Chief Murray Clearsky, her first cousin, did not respond. So she sent a letter to the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission. Shortly after that, on Sept. 6, a memo bearing the signatures of the chief and all six councillors was sent out to all band employees.

"Please be advised that, effective immediately, that any financial or pertinent information relating to the daily band operations are not to be released to any persons. Persons must be directed to chief and council who may or may not approve of the information being released," the memo said.

Employees were informed they could be subject to reprimand or termination if they failed to comply with this directive.

Margaret Clearsky saw that as a threat.

"I answered his letter because I knew it was too late to turn back so I had a lot of courage," she said laughing. "I've got four pensions coming from my time working off-reserve. I'm going to be OK, but it's these poor people in the community that are always going to be under Murray's thumb because they don't have any education."

She said the audit is in the band office and cannot be taken out of the building or copied, but the numbers are burned into her memory.

"I wasn't supposed to read the audit that day. I don't know what guided me to that audit that day."

And since she raised the alarm, the audit is no longer accessible to band members, she said.

"Now it's locked up. No one is allowed to view it."

She expressed her concern to the Manitoba Gaming Control Board (MGCB) again and ran into an unexpected roadblock.

"It is my understanding that your allegations of the mishandling of the VLT monies are based upon financial statements prepared by [auditors] Meyers Norris Penny for the Gaming Centre for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2005," wrote Denis Martin, manager of compliance with the MGCB. "As your allegations relate to a period before amendments to the Gaming Control Act allowed the MGCB oversight of First Nation VLT revenues, I am unable to take any action related to any allegations of misuse of VLT proceeds prior to April 15, 2005."

Elizabeth Stephenson, the spokesperson for the MGCB, explained.

"Before we went to the new legislation there really was no reporting requirements at all in terms of revenues," she said.

Stephenson said most establishments in the province are private commercial operations and the money generated by the VLTs, after the government gets its cut, belongs to the operators and there is no need for reporting to the government. Most VLTs are in bars or lounges, but First Nations were different.

"Just generally speaking, concerns with respect to allegations of transparency and accountability have been a concern for a number of bands across the counry," she added. "But recognizing that the province does have oversight with respect to gambling, the province initiated changes to the Gaming Control Act that permits the Manitoba Gaming Control Commission to have direct oversight for First Nations' VLT revenues."

Until this recent change, the only oversight in place in the gaming agreement negotiated between the province and First Nations in the mid-1990s was in the hands of the bands themselves. The change this year came too late for the gaming commission (MGCB) to be of any help to Margaret Clearsky.

"Unfortunately, there's always a start date for everything. We have been in contact with chief and council and we will still be in contact with chief and council to make sure that even if there have been problems in the past that we're moving forward to make sure that they're resolved in the future," Elizabeth Stephenson said. "We're keeping a really close eye on this because this is the first time we've had to use our new responsibilities. It sort of caught us in a peculiar situation where we have allegations related to events that took place before we were given this authority under legislation."

The MGCB officials have met with the band council to ensure that proper accountability and oversight will be present in the future.

"On Sept. 29, I attended at Waywayseecappo First Nation and met with Chief Murray Clearsky and the council of the First Nation. They fully realize that the question of such a large shortage on monies must be addressed," Martin wrote to Margaret. "If they cannot account for these shortages by conducting their own investigation, they have the option of calling in the RCM police."

The MGCB spokesperson added more information.

"We have directly asked Chief Murray Clearsky for information. But it is for the period after April 15, when we actually had authority to ask for this," Stephenson said. "Even though we don't have the authority to complete the investigation and move it forward throughthe courts or to ask for information prior to April of 2005, we have recommended very strongly that if there's allegations they should bring that concern to the police."

Margaret Clearsky has decided to do just that. She wrote a letter outlining her concerns and sent it to Sgt. Sonny Richards at the RCMP detachment on Waywayseecappo on Oct. 23. She alleges the money was embezzled and that the council would prefer to do nothing about it.

"We all know the RCMP should be involved. What kind of message is this sending to the youth? That you don't have to be held accountable for your actions? I deal with youth every day. Our department is the one that endeavors to steer these young offenders in a positive direction. I am compassionate about the delicate nature of the situation, but as leaders you should do what is right. Or we'll never break the cycle," she said.

Repeated attempts were made to contact Chief Murray Clearsky and members of the Waywayseecappo council, but none of Windspeaker's calls were returned.