'Open the books': Investigative society challenges Sahtu Secretariat
Some beneficiary members of the Sahtu trust are concerned about how the fund is being managed.
They have formed a society to represent their interests: the Sahtu Beneficiaries Investigative Fund.
The organization — registered earlier this year in the N.W.T. under the Societies Act — is a self-described "not-for-profit Dene organization for the benefit of all beneficiaries of the Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement."
Fort Simpson's Walter Blondin speaks for the group and says the first order of business is to get a full account of the Sahtu Secretariat Inc.'s (SSI) financial dealings. The secretariat manages a multi-million dollar trust fund established in 1994 under a land claim agreement for the Sahtu region.
Ethel Blondin-Andrew, chair of the SSI, has not publicly responded to the creation of the Sahtu Beneficiaries Investigative Fund.
Straw that broke the camel's back
Earlier this year SSI loaned about $5 million to the land corporations that make up the SSI board of directors to purchase Ram Head Outfitters, an outfitting company in the Mackenzie Mountains.
"The buying of the camp in the mountains was the straw that broke the camel's back," said Raymond Yakeleya, member of the Tulita Dene band and Sahtu land claim beneficiary.
"Not only myself but other people started asking questions. We are demanding answers, and we should be told the answers."
Yakeleya said he only learned of the purchase after it was completed.
"We always find out about it later," Yakeleya said. "Somebody should have said 'we're thinking of buying this.'"
Blondin also points to the loan and purchase as being a succinct summary of what he believes is wrong with the secretariat.
"You've [SSI board of directors] taken money from the pot [the Sahtu Trust] to purchase a $5 million business," Blondin said, "But you're not mandated to do that."
"SSI is not a business," Blondin said. "It's to manage the political aspirations of the Sahtu."
Growing fund not the point
By all accounts, the fund appears to be healthy. It was founded with approximately $117 million in 1994 following the terms of the 1993 Sahtu Dene and Metis Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement. Secretariat director Danny Yakeleya is on record earlier this year saying the fund now has a value in excess of $140 million.
Blondin says his concerns, and those of the people he speaks for, stand regardless of the fund's value.
He said he and other beneficiaries have seen consolidated or summarized financial statements that give block totals for expenditures regarding salaries, expenses, legal fees and so on, but never a statement with detailed line items.
The investigative organization is calling for those details to made public to all beneficiaries.
"When we ask questions of the [secretariat] leaders we don't get any answers," Raymond Yakeleya said.
"There's been nothing but silence. If there's no wrongdoing, then open the books. Let us have a look."
Blondin warns that the Sahtu Beneficiaries Investigative Fund will pursue a legal solution to their concerns surrounding the loan to purchase the outfitting company, as well other complaints about how the trust is managed.
The SSI has not yet responded to the CBC's requests for comment, but says a response will be forthcoming.
