Dear Supporter,
Charmaine Stick has another court victory in her fight for transparency in First Nations communities and she took that message right to Ottawa with your help.
“The evidence demonstrates that the First Nation has not complied with its obligation to provide and publish disclosure for the 2017 and 2018 financial years,” wrote Court of Queen’s Bench Justice J. McCreary in her ruling. “I am therefore convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Onion Lake Cree Nation is in civil contempt of an order of this court.”
The judge backed her words with action: she imposed a fine of $10,000 that Onion Lake Cree Nation will have to pay if it doesn’t publish the band’s financial statements in 30 days.
This is happening because Prime Minister Justin Trudeau isn’t enforcing the First Nation Financial Transparency Act.
The law is simple: every chief and council needs to publish the band’s basic financial statements. Most First Nations follow the law, but Onion Lake Cree Nation and a few other bands are refusing to provide transparency and Trudeau says he won’t enforce the law.
Trudeau may not care about the rule of law, but Charmaine is taking a courageous stand. She went on a 13-day hunger strike. Then she teamed up with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation to take her leaders to court. Because of supporters like you, we successfully forced the band to publish the financial statements in 2015 and 2016. When the band again refused to open the books last fall, we went back to court and secured this contempt of court ruling.
This court ruling is HUGE: it shows that grassroots people in First Nations across Canada can hold their leaders accountable if they refuse to provide transparency.
We’ve got more good news.
We asked for your help to collect signatures on a petition telling the prime minister to enforce the law. We set the lofty goal of 25,000 signatures. You blew us away.
Charmaine flew to Ottawa to deliver more than 30,000 PETITION SIGNATURES to the prime minister’s office. You can read all about it in this great story by APTN. And check out Charmaine’s interview on John Gormley Live.
We know this fight isn’t over. Charmaine knows that too. But we’re making progress. And we’re going to keep fighting. All of that is because of you.
Thank you so much for all of your support – it’s making a difference.
- Todd, Kris, Shannon and all of the CTF staff
P.S.: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation believes that governments should be held to account, regardless of their size, party affiliation or location. Make a donation today to show your support for this important work: https://www.taxpayer.com/donate/
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