Deninu K'ue members seek financial records
Petition asks chief and council to host annual general meeting after not having one since 2009
Erin Steele
Northern News Services
Monday, May 30, 2016
DENINU K'UE/FORT RESOLUTION
A call for a public meeting that seems to be getting no traction has one frustrated member of Deninu K'ue First Nation threatening to form a new band.
Elder Leonard Beaulieu assisted in gathering 55 signatures on a petition that calls on Chief Louis Balsillie and council of the First Nation to share detailed financial information with its membership.
"An (annual general meeting) would do that or we're going to try to start our own band," said Beaulieu.
He would not elaborate on who "we" is.
The band has not held such a meeting since 2009, according to News/North archives.
"We're not trying to shoot the chief down, we're trying to get what we have rights to," said Beaulieu. "We want to know what's going on with our money."
The petition was forwarded to the federal Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada but was rejected, said Beaulieu.
Shawn Jackson, a media relations officer with the department, sent News/North an e-mailed statement confirming the petition was received in April. The statement points to the fact that Deninu K'ue follows a custom election code, which essentially means the nation creates its own governance rules.
"If this internal matter regarding annual general meetings cannot be resolved internally and if they so choose, the community could seek legal recourse through the court system," it reads.
It also points to Deninu K'ue's 2014/2015 financial statement, which the department "accepted" and posted online under the Financial Transparency Act. When asked if this is the kind of financial information Beaulieu is seeking, he said it lacks detail.
"We want to see where the monies are coming to the Deninu K'ue First Nation, how it's being spent," he said. He added he wants to know details of an impact benefits agreement with De Beers and how the band's businesses, including a taxi service, are doing.
Balsillie returned a call from News/North to say he declines comment, but he did say "I send the paper to (Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development Canada); INAC's happy with what we do, we have money in our bank."
The financial statement for the year ending March 31, 2015 shows a "net financial asset" of $148,708. In 2014, there was a "net financial debt" of $266,985.
When News/North asked Balsillie why he doesn't just hold an AGM he said, "I just don't want to comment. I'm the kind of person that don't like to take heck from people. I've never done nothing wrong in my life."
He added it tends to be the same individuals "that keep harping on me."
Members of the First Nation have been seeking an annual general meeting for years. In 2011, News/North reported a dozen Deninu K'ue First Nation members requested help from indigenous affairs to press for an annual general meeting, which was also denied.
At the time, Balsillie told News/North there would be an annual general meeting, "when the time is right."
"Right now is not the right time because there's too much bickering" he said at the time, adding there would be an annual general meeting that summer.
News/North tried to get ahold of the two people Beaulieu said started the petition. One didn't return a request for comment by press time, and the other declined comment.
Beaulieu said he apprised NWT MP Michael McLeod of the situation, but had not received a response by May 25. News/North reached out to McLeod for comment that day as well but did not hear back.
The First Nation is located at the edge of Fort Resolution in the South Slave region. As of April, it had a registered population of 907 although many don't actually live in the community. Balsillie first became acting chief without an election in 2007 but was elected in 2011 and in 2015. In the latter year he won with 108 votes, above the 55 his closest competitor received.
