Dear John,

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau refuses to help grassroots Indigenous activists like Hans McCarthy. That’s wrong.

My friend Hans is fighting for accountability at the Frog Lake First Nation and Ottawa is refusing to help him.

Frog Lake should be wealthy because of its oil wells. Unfortunately, many of its members live in poverty.

In 2013, Frog Lake's trust fund, funded by oil revenues, totaled about $100 million, according to documents released as required by the First Nations Financial Transparency Act. In 2021, the documents show only $3 million is left.

Hans asked his chief and council for documents showing where the money went. He got nothing.

So, Hans connected with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. Together we filed access to information requests to get documents from Ottawa. But the federal government refused to help Hans.

Now, Hans and the CTF are taking Ottawa to court to force the government to release these important documents. This is about helping Hans and grassroots members of the Frog Lake First Nation. But it’s also about defending a clear principle: both the federal government and First Nations leaders have to be accountable and transparent.

Because of access to information law, we only have until August 10 to file the legal papers.

We’ve budgeted $45,000 in legal costs to help Hans get the documents he needs. We’re counting on 4,500 of our supporters to chip in $10 each to help cover costs before the deadline.

You can watch our interview with Hans by clicking this link: http://www.taxpayer.com/campaigns/fighting-for-first-nations-accountability-with-hans-mccarthy

Thanks for stepping up and fighting for taxpayers – it’s making a difference!

Sincerely,

• Gage, Todd, Shannon and the rest of the CTF team