DENINU K'UE/FORT RESOLUTION
Band members say they're in the dark about how the Deninu K'ue First Nation band is being run in Fort Resolution.

Deninu K'ue Chief Louis Balsillie confirmed band council meetings are open to the public. - NNSL file photo

Cecile Richards is a band member who now lives in Fort Simpson. After hearing about a turkey-giveaway over the Christmas holidays in Fort Resolution, she called the band office to ask why non-residents were not included.

"I had contacted the band because I just wanted to find out why they didn't call all members that live outside the community telling them that they were doing this and if we wanted our portion of it," Richards said.

But Richards said not only would no one at the band office tell her about the turkeys, they refused to send her minutes from their last band council meeting.

"Every time I try to get information from them, they can't give me an answer," she said. "I want to find out what they're doing behind closed doors because I can't even get them to send me band meetings (minutes) and that's public knowledge."

Deninu K'ue Chief Louis Balsillie confirmed band council meetings are open to the public.

"Of course they're open to the public," he said.

But he refused to provide direction to News/North on how to obtain a council meeting schedule.

"It's none of your business, to be truthful," he said. "You don't need to know what happens in my community."

Member Darin McKay Sr. is also concerned about the lack of communication between chief and council and the membership.

"In the past, our other chiefs, we used to have the AGM (annual general meeting)," he said. "They would tell us anything going on."

But the band hasn't held an AGM since 2008. Last April, elder Leonard Beaulieu helped gather names for a petition calling for an AGM that was sent to the federal Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).

The department rejected the request, stating that the First Nation creates its own governance rules. The statement went on to say members could initiate court proceedings if a resolution couldn't be met.

"We're supposed to have an annual general meeting every 12 month of the year," Beaulieu said. "We're in 2017 now."

Balsiliie said the First Nation isn't required to hold an AGM.

"We don't have to have an AGM," he said.

But Richards said she and others will continue to push for transparency within their First Nation.

"There's been a lot of conflict, a lot of stuff happening at the that band office that no one knows about," she said.