January 25, 2010
CBC News
Students at First Nations University of Canada say they're outraged by allegations of misspending by senior staff at the Regina-based institution.
"Our university is facing financial challenges and it is disturbing to hear that university dollars are being misused while our departments are facing cuts," Cadmus Delorme, a spokesman for the FNUC students' association, said in a news release.
The students said they received copies of internal memos detailing spending concerns at the university.
According to the documents, which were also obtained by CBC News, former FNUC senior financial officer Murray Westerlund had raised concerns about annual leave paid out as cash to senior staff over the past four years, including about $98,000 to FNUC president Charles Pratt.
The documents also detailed concerns about staff trips to Montreal, Las Vegas and Hawaii.
One spending item concerns a $2.57-million teepee structure built at the entrance to the FNUC Regina building, in particular $216,000 paid to First Nations veterans and others to review plans and "monitor progress."
Westerlund called the spending inappropriate and imprudent, and shortly after sending his November, 2009, memos to university officials, he was no longer working for it.
At the time, the university said it was a mutual decision, although Westerlund is now suing the university for wrongful dismissal. The students' assocation said it's "extremely frustrated" about what it was told by FNUC about how Westerlund came to leave the university.
According to internal documents, the university has denied Westerlund's allegations that there was misspending, saying the payments were made according to policies.
A senior official with the FNUC board of directors said last week FNUC has recently ordered a new audit to deal with any concerns.
On Friday, Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris said he wants to meet with the board of governors of the University of Regina, which is affiliated with FNUC, to talk about contingency plans and the overall financial state of FNUC.
Responding to the students' concerns, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chief Guy Lonechild said in a news release that he wants the FNUC board of governors to "make the right decision" and address the concerns raised by the students.
Lonechild said his main priority was to ensure that FNUC students will be able to complete their studies and their degrees.
Since 2005, FNUC has been through a number of controversies, concerning departures of senior staff, deficits and accusations of financial irregularities.