ShareThisBy BILL CURRY
Federal auditors have found new spending problems at the federally funded Congress of Aboriginal Peoples, including the case of a native leader who was claiming mileage and per diems for daily trips to and from his Thunder Bay office.
The Indian Affairs Department is auditing the congress, the main national group representing natives who live outside of reserves, to examine how federal money to its Ottawa headquarters and eight provincial wings is being spent.
The audit has found that about $150,000 spent by the congress's Ontario affiliate, the Ontario Metis Aboriginal Association, has been disallowed and must be returned.
National chief Patrick Brazeau said the congress will not tolerate such behavior and has suspended the Ontario affiliate.
"If you don't play by the rules, then you're out," he said.
The Ontario affiliate received about $430,0000 in funding in fiscal 2004-05 for programs dealing with Metis rights.
Federal officials stated in the audit that the Ontario wing was not able to provide detailed justification for invoiced payments to the Native Trading House, a company run by Frank Palmeter, a former vice chief of the congress.
The audit also lists about $21,000 in disallowed travel expenses submitted by the president of the Ontario affiliate, Michael McGuire.
"The destination shown on the travel claim is Thunder Bay, the place of (the president's) residence and OMAA office. The mileage claim is always ... 100 km/day which seems to represent travel to and from the OMAA office. We feel that commuting to and from OMAA's office is considered a personal expense," the federal auditors wrote.
The audit says McGuire also submitted expenses for meals on days when he was in Thunder Bay. Other disallowed expenses relate to national meetings and other activities.
McGuire did not return a phone call to his Thunder Bay home.
The congress was the only national aboriginal group to endorse the Conservatives in the January federal election campaign, and Brazeau frequently calls on all aboriginal groups to be more accountable for how they spend federal dollars. However, he has been on the defensive all year because of the audit, which he has described as a "witch-hunt" by Liberal sympathizers within Indian Affairs.
In June, Brazeau said federal auditors asked the congress's national office to pay back around $115,000 in funding because expenses had been booked in the wrong fiscal year.
Since 2001, the congress has also suspended its affiliates in Alberta and Manitoba and replacements are being created. Its Quebec affiliate is defending itself in court against a civil suit by its former president, who alleges his attempts to expose internal misspending were met with death threats.
