Onion Lake launches lawsuit against federal government over fiscal accountability act
- Fraser Needham | November 28, 2014
The Onion Lake Cree Nation is taking the Harper government to court over the First Nations Financial Transparency Act.
The Onion Lake band filed a statement of claim Wednesday in the offices of the Federal Court in Edmonton.
The controversial act requires First Nations to publish chief and council salaries and financial statements on the government’s website.
Wednesday was also the deadline for bands to comply with the act.
In a recent letter, Minister of Aboriginal Affairs Bernard Valcourt’s office threatens bands who fail to comply with the legislation could be faced with having third-party managers withhold chief and council pay, other departments with which bands have funding agreements notified of their non-compliance and delinquent First Nations may face court action forcing them to publish their financial information.
At a press conference Wednesday, Onion Lake Chief Wallace Fox says the band has had enough of the government’s bullying to get it to comply with the legislation and this is why they launched the lawsuit.
“So because of the deadlines and timeframes, we decided enough is enough on behalf of our people,” he says. “On behalf of our people, the Cree people of the Onion Lake Cree Nation, the statement of claim that that was the last step in a long journey to get the federal government to sit and talk with our nations.”
He adds the band did not want to resort to legal action but they feel they have no choice, as the federal government will withhold fiscal transfers for failure to comply with the act.
“We did not want to go to court but Canada made the unilateral decision to withhold our monies that are in our capital account.”
Fox also says the legislation will only further serve to increase misconceptions of and racism against First Nations people amongst the non-Aboriginal general public.
Aboriginal Affairs says it will make a statement about the Onion Lake lawsuit on Thursday.
The department has also published the list of delinquent bands on its website.
As of Wednesday, 529 of 582 First Nations across the country had complied with the legislation.
In Saskatchewan, 10 of 70 bands have not complied with the act.
Bands in the Treaties 4, 6 and 7 regions say they are upset with the government’s high-handed stance and have no plans to comply with the act.
They accuse the government of being paternalistic and say the legislation is in violation of their treaty rights.
Related story: Whitecap Dakota First Nation posts Transparency Act disclosure