Overspending confirmed at Cree CFS agency
Last Updated: Thursday, November 5, 2009 | 5:53 PM CT
CBC News
An independent financial review of a northern Manitoba child-welfare agency has confirmed allegations of overspending and mismanagement, officials said Thursday.
Details of the review into finances at the Cree Nation Child and Family Caring Agency were released Thursday by the First Nations of Northern Manitoba Child and Family Services Authority.
The review looked at the agency's spending for the fiscal years of 2005-06 through 2008-09. The agency serves communities in northwestern Manitoba including Flin Flon, The Pas and Easterville.
Winnipeg-based accountants found that Linda Constant, the former executive director of Cree Nation earned $807,694 over three years, the northern authority said in a statement.
The authority said accountants also found Constant was paid "substantially more" for earned days off than she was entitled to. Constant had earned 81 days off but was paid for 191.
Constant's travel and expenses were also examined. The authority said she "sent in separate expense claims for the same trip and was effectively paid twice," for an overpayment of $5,267.
The authority also said Cree Nation's appointed board of directors claimed nearly $700,000 in benefits, travel and honorariums over a four-year period, including a June 2007 retreat to Kelowna, B.C., that cost $35,000.
Constant and Cree Nation's board have been fired and new controls on credit-card and travel expenses have been put in place, said Marie Lands, CEO of the Northern Manitoba Child and Family Services Authority .
The authority oversees Cree Nation and five other child welfare agencies.
The review was called in 2007 but wasn't made public until a memo exposing potential problems was tabled by opposition Conservatives in the Manitoba legislature.
Dated January 2007, the memo discussed a shortfall in cash flow and prohibited travel for employees except in emergency situations.
Lands said Thursday that a second audit has been ordered to dig deeper into financial transactions of Cree Nation's top management.
"The northern authority is taking steps to ensure accountability at all levels," Lands said.
With file from The Canadian Press
