This is big;

Two First Nation chiefs say they were offered money as enticement to sign their communities up for Bank of Montreal loan agreements arranged by a Winnipeg-based financial firm that an internal document shows used “kickbacks” as a tool to secure clients.
The chiefs, from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, said they were offered money by senior officials with The Usand Group, which bills itself as a firm dedicated to helping First Nation communities participate in the “global economy,” according to its website.
They said Usand would arrange the loan agreements with the First Nation and then approach the Bank of Montreal to secure the loan. The loan total would include fees owed to Usand resulting from the firm arranging the agreement.
[…]
[A]n internal Usand document obtained by APTN National News shows that the firm listed the use of “kickbacks” as a potential tool for use in securing deals with prospective First Nation clients.
The document, a 2014 risk management plan, analyzed the potential risks associated with the use of “kickbacks.” The document outlined possible “preventive actions” to mitigate those risks along with “contingency plans” to counter any negative fallout from the use of the tactic.
The main risk associated with the use of kickbacks was the possibility “any ‘favours’ become publicized,'” said the document. The document rated the likelihood of this happening as “medium” and the potential impact as “very high.”
The document suggested that “no written record of dealings” be made of any kickback arrangements which should be shrouded in “vague langue, ie: offer to ‘give money back to community to be used at their discretion.'”
In the event a kickback deal became public, the document suggested Usand employ a “positive PR strategy with (a) communications firm.”

It gets better.

Ovide Mercredi is President of the Manitoba NDP.
Via.

As of today, the Aboriginal Affairs website shows that 197 First Nations, or roughly 33 per cent, of the bands required to file had not yet complied. That is significantly higher than the number that missed the deadline last year, when 98 per cent of bands complied with the new law.

Narrative, disrupted;

[Chief Cece Hodgson-McCauley, of the Inuvik Dene Band] claims that a lot of the bad stories told about residential schools are a lie.
“They’re only reporting the bad side, and the more you lie, the more you say it’s bad the more money you make, and the lawyers are making money because they’re pushing people to tell their stories.”
She said some people have contacted her, wanting to tell their positive stories about the schools, but are too scared to come forward.
Hodgson-McCauley wants the truth to come out, and she plans on being the person to start it.

h/t Derek

Two souls, to go.
What, exactly, does “pay as you go” mean?
And where is the $11,000?

Man convicted of aiming vehicle at police officer;

Arcand served as FSIN vice-chief in charge of the justice portfolio from 1991 to 1996. He also represented Saskatchewan on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and chaired the 2012 Saskatchewan First Nation Winter Games. He’s been inducted into the Saskatchewan Sports Hall of Fame and was named Prince Albert Citizen of the Year in 1994.

h/t Larry

It went to buy fish broth;

The federal government is demanding the Attawapiskat First Nation pay back $1.8 million after an audit determined the band could not account for the money that was supposed to be spent on housing.
The audit was completed in April of this year, and was recently posted on a government website.

h/t Orville

National Post: Chief’s $800,000 payment was in exchange for abandoning large portion of land claim, document confirms

National Post;

An elderly B.C. First Nations chief and his ex-wife, along with one of their sons and a grandson, received more than $4.1-million in remuneration over the past four years.
Shuswap First Nation Chief Paul Sam, 80, gets a tax-free salary that has averaged $264,000 over that period to run a tiny reserve near Invermere, a resort community near the Alberta border.
The Shuswap have 267 members, of whom just 87 live on the reserve.

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