cbc.ca
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Labrador Innu band defends handling of funds
Last Updated Tue, 01 Mar 2005 10:16:11 EST
CBC News
ST. JOHN'S, NFLD. - The band council in Natuashish – which couldn't account for $3 million in a recent audit despite spending hundreds of thousands on accountants – says its money is not being misspent.
The council disputes recent CBC reports quoting the band's own auditor's review of the council's books in the troubled Labrador community, which was built slightly more than two years ago to house the former residents of Davis Inlet.
A document obtained by CBC, written by one of the band's auditors, pointed to weak financial controls and a lack of documentation to show how $3 million was spent.
But the Natuashish band council says it now knows where the money is going.
In a letter sent to CBC, the band said its financial statements show documents were missing for $565,000 of the $3-million sum. It later said more papers had been found and only $300,000 cannot be accounted for.
But Eric Coombs, one of the auditors, said the documents show who got the money, but not why.
"Precisely what they were for is hard to determine until you see the invoices," Coombs said.
"The band has a list of those missing invoices, and as I understand it, are attempting to track down the supporting receipts."
The $3 million that Coombs reviewed comes directly under band council control.
The Innu village had revenues of more than $18 million in 2004, according to financial statements released by the band.
Despite the small size of the community – only 700 people – the council has paid substantial amounts for accounting services.
For instance, it paid more than $600,000 to KPMG, the accounting firm hired to manage funds for the federal government.
Ottawa spends tens of millions of dollars a year to fight addictions and improve living conditions for people in Natuashish.
In its letter to CBC, the band council says it doesn't have enough people on staff to do what it calls "an adequate job of bookkeeping."
The band has been asking Ottawa for more money to train Innu people in accounting methods. |
