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Former band chief calls for review

Updated at 10:28 PM

By Aldo Santin

A former First Nations chief who was removed from office by Indian Affairs six years ago is now calling for a forensic audit of his band’s finances.
Dennis Pashe said bills are going unpaid at the Dakota Tipi band, welfare cheques are bouncing and funds set aside for children’s education is being spent to cover travel expenses.

“Where is the money going - that’s basically what people want to know,” Pashe said today.

Dennis Pashe is no stranger to controversy. Pashe had been chief of Dakota Tipi, located west of Portage la Prairie, for 23 years before Indian Affairs removed him from office in 2002 and ordered a new election that was won by his second cousin, Cornell Pashe.

Dennis Pashe held office according to band custom, without elections, and his final years were mired in allegations of corruption and cronyism, of jobs being given to friends and family members, and those who questioned his actions were cut off welfare and lost local services - many of the same allegations he’s now making against Cornell Pashe.
The province also investigated allegations that VLT revenue had been misappropriated. The machines were removed in 2002 and only returned in 2005.

Dakota Tipi is a small community, only about half of the 329 band members live on the reserve.

Dennis Pashe said he was accused of a great deal of wrong-doing but never charged or convicted in relation to how he ran the community.

“Some of things that happened (when I was chief) is nothing compared to what is going on today,” Dennis Pashe said, adding that Cornell Pashe had been the band manager during his last two years as chief.

Dennis Pashe was also charged with assaulting his ex-wife in 2000 but he was acquitted at trial. He didn’t contest the 2002 election but ran for chief in 2004, losing to Cornell Pashe.

Ottawa placed the band’s finances under third party management in 2002, when it was $3.4 million in debt. Under chief Cornell Pashe, the band regained control of its finances in 2006, with its debt reduced to about $700,000.

However, auditors reports for the fiscal years 2002-03 to 2005-06, show that the band had run operating deficits for three of those four years and that the band regularly under-spent its education and social assistance allocations and over-spent for welfare payments and band government allocation.

In those four years, the band had accumulated $988,000 in education money that was not spent and over-spent its band council salaries and expenses by $805,000. Over the four-year period, that band has accumulated a $26,000 deficit.

Dennis Pashe said a superficial reading of the auditors’ report seems to indicate that the band administration is using un-used education dollars to cover band council expenses and other expenses. Dennis Pashe said that Ottawa should conduct a forensic audit of band finances and that the band government should be returned to a third-party management.

Cornell Pashe said the band was placed into deep debt as a result of Dennis Pashe’s administration, adding it’s taken a few years to re-organize band government. Cornell Pashe said that the band was forced to use excess education dollars to pay down its debt and for other expenses, adding he has nothing to hide.

“If Ottawa wants to hold a forensic audit, I’d welcome it,” Cornell Pashe said.