Yellowknife (Sep 06/04) - A special audit committee is recommending that Dene Nation executives spend less on travel and meetings and pay more attention to their income after an accountant revealed the organization is as much as $350,000 in debt.

Elder Joe Migwi makes an offering of prayer and tobacco at the recent annual assembly. - Jack Danylchuk/NNSL photo

The committee was formed at the annual assembly in Yellowknife after auditor Charles Jeffery reported that the most interesting item on the Dene Nation books was $512,080 in receivables marked as an asset.

More than $300,000 of that amount is due from government and First Nations on projects that were contracted but not completed. The money may never be recovered, Jeffery warned in his report to the 34th annual assembly.

"Some of it dates back four years; it will take some investigation to determine what can be realized," he said.

Jeffery said the remaining $200,000 has been pledged by the Indian Affairs department to balance the Dene Nation accounts for the 2003-2004 fiscal year.

The audited financial statement showed the Dene Nation spent $1,042,336 and ran a deficit of $40,050, but without the questionable assets, the organization would be more than $350,000 in the hole.

National chief Noeline Villebrun said she inherited the financial situation from her predecessor Bill Erasmus, regional vice-president of the Assembly of First Nations.

After meeting privately with Jeffery, an ad hoc committee adopted the auditor's recommendations to keep detailed records of spending and agreed the Dene Nation should spend less on travel and meetings.

The Dene Nation's total bill for wages was $659,438, including $209,056 spent on salaries for the top executives, with $30,912 for Erasmus and $42,228 for Villebrun.

Spending on travel and accommodations amounted to $323,709, with $138,898 going to workshops and meetings.

More than 300 elders, chiefs and councillors attended the four-day annual gathering that was dominated by discussions centered on the $7 billion Mackenzie Gas Project.