Post on 01-Jun-2018
8/9/2019 ABL vs AG of Canada
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PRESS RELEASE
Algonquins of Barriere Lake File Court Action against the Government of Canadaand Past & Current Third Party Managers
(Kitiganik, Algonquin Territory/January 30, 2015) Chief and Council for the Algonquinsof Barriere Lake today filed a lawsuit against Canada and the community’s past andpresent third party managers, BDO Canada LLP and Hartel Financial ManagementCorporation. The lawsuit claims harms suffered by Barriere Lake caused by Canadaand the third party managers, by mismanaging and withholding funds that were to beused for the benefit of the community and its members. This includes exorbitant feespaid to the third party managers from Barriere Lake’s funds. The “services” providedby the third party managers harmed, rather than helped, our members, and interferedwith our ability to improve the administrative, financial, and governance services weprovide to our community.
Our members continue to experience third world living conditions, in spite of thetremendous wealth generated through resource extraction within our traditional territory.Our roads, water, hydro, school, and social services remain gravely underfunded, whencompared to the funding available to Canadians living in non-First Nationscommunities.
The leadership and administration of Barriere Lake have been working diligently toregain control of our own financial resources and governance, but the informationessential to do so has been routinely withheld by Canada and by the third partymanagers. Repeated written and verbal requests for the most basic information aboutour own finances have been ignored.
After 8 years of third party management, Canada claims that Barriere Lake remains in“default” of the funding agreement imposed by Canada. The leadership andadministration of Barriere Lake have had virtually no control over or information abouttheir finances during that time. Surely, if we remain in “default”, it is because of chronic
underfunding by Canada and the failure of third party managers to competently anddiligently managed our finances, for the benefit of the community and itsmembers. Instead, Canada now claims we are in breach of the First Nations FinancialTransparency Act for not reporting financial information that remains in the exclusivecontrol of the third party managers.
The third party managers hold Barriere Lake’s money in trust, and are thereforerequired to administer those funds for the benefit of the community. Instead, for the last8 years, our community has suffered gravely under the third party management
BARRIERE LAKE INDIAN GOVERNMENT GOUVERNEMENT AUTOCHTONE DU LAC BARRIÈRE
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regime. Without financial agency, we have been at the mercy of a series of managerswho have ignored our reasonable requests for basic information, and have bouncedcheques to suppliers, interfered with our economic relations with suppliers, hired andfired employees without authority, and otherwise proven themselves completelyunconcerned with the interests, well-being, and future of our community. The same
accountants have charged millions of dollars in fees, which have been paid by BarriereLake, without our consent. And our members continue to live in third world conditions.
The millions paid in fees to the third party managers could have been used by BarriereLake to hire its own professional accounting, finance, and administrative staff, and toimprove the infrastructure and services available to our members. Instead, it has goneto accountants in offices hundreds or thousands of kilometers from our community, whoare neither accountable to our members nor motivated to bring us out of default,because our continued default status ensures that their contracts will be renewed byCanada.
We have attempted to discuss our circumstances with Canada, and requested that thirdparty management no longer be imposed on us. Failing that, we have requestedsupport for taking the steps that Canada views as necessary to bring us out of thirdparty management. Canada, through Minister Valcourt, has ignored or refused theserequests.
Regrettably, we have been left with no choice but bring a legal claim against Canadaand our third party managers for the damages we have suffered during the last 8 years,because of the money taken from Barriere Lake without its consent, the removal of ourautonomy and ability to govern ourselves, the reduction in our administrative andinfrastructural capacity, and the harm to our community’s reputation. Our claim is for$30 million: this represents the losses we have experienced because of the impositionof third party management, the negligent performance of the third party managers, andthe numerous breaches of the fiduciary obligations owed by Canada and the third partymanagers to Barriere Lake. If we are successful, this money will be returned to thecommunity, for the benefit of the community, rather than being held and used for thebenefit of accountants in far-off cities.
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For More Information Contact:
Chief Casey Ratt Cell: (819) 441-8002Tony Wawatie, Interim Director-General Cell: (819) 355-3662Michel Thusky (French) Spokesperson Telephone: (819) 435-2171 & 435-2172
BARRIERE LAKE INDIAN GOVERNMENT GOUVERNEMENT AUTOCHTONE DU LAC BARRIÈRE
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