Over $34 million in ‘ineligible, questionable and unsupported’ spending by the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations has sent shockwaves across Saskatchewan, alarming Indigenous and non-Indigenous residents alike.
Earlier this week, a forensic audit by KPMG revealed a record of FSIN’s questionable purchases between 2019 and 2024 relating to COVID 19 expenditures, travel expenditures, pay increases, payments made to a former employee, and purchase and sales of fleet vehicles.
Saskatoon Tribal Council Tribal Chief Mark Arcand stood alongside four of Saskatchewan’s 74 Indigenous chiefs on Friday, calling on FSIN leadership for some well-deserved transparency.
“What are we showing our future leaders, our young people, that aspire to be the chief of the FSIN or to be a vice chief or a tribal chief? It’s okay not to be transparent?”
He suggested that subsequent action needs to be taken, whether through an RCMP investigation or emergency meetings between members. Chief Arcand adds that the money was spent in a time of desperate need for Indigenous people across the province.
“This (money) could have helped many people in our first nations community. Housing, education. We just went through forest fires up in the north. That (funding) could be homes for people.”
On top of that, the audit only investigated a few sample records between the years 2019 and 2025.
“Imagine, if they did the entire organization for five years in other areas, how much that number could potentially grow.”
He assured listeners that the FSIN is not above policy and procedure, and it should consider what it’s teaching young, future leaders. Chief Arcand himself is on the STC treasury board, which he says is often excluded from major decisions and did not receive the audits draft findings back in June.
In response to the controversy, Former Chief of Flying Dust First Nation Robert Merasty says when it comes to FSIN leadership, it’s time to clean house.
“Those wonderful people who work in our FSIN know where that money went. They know what happened.”
Back in 2018, former FSIN Vice-Chief Kim Jonathan claimed the organization was under investigation by Saskatoon police for alleged financial irregularities. The FSIN disputed her claim, saying it had no knowledge of such an investigation.
