First Nations University of Canada has its main campus in Regina. The veterans memorial teepee is shown outside the entrance. (CBC)

The future of First Nations University of Canada as a stand-alone university is in question, amid new allegations of misspending at the financially troubled Regina-based institution.

On Friday, Saskatchewan Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris said he was disturbed and frustrated by reports about the latest problems and has called for an emergency meeting with the University of Regina, which is affiliated with the FNUC.

Since 2005, FNUC has been wracked by internal turmoil, including the firings or departures of numerous senior officials, allegations of financial irregularities and accusations that academic freedom is under attack.

The federal government has withheld $1.2 million in grants pending the results of a review. The province has withheld $675,000.

Murray Westerlund, seen in 2005, is out as chief financial officer of the First Nations University of Canada. Westerlund was appointed to overhaul the school's finances. (CBC)

The latest controversy involves the university's dismissal late last year of senior financial officer Murray Westerlund, an accountant who produced a scathing report about spending problems at the university.

Westerlund, who joined the university in 2005 to help straighten out its finances, said some of the spending he uncovered was "inappropriate."

On Nov. 17, Westerlund raised the alarm about $265,000 in vacation leave paid out as cash to senior staff at FNUC, including $98,000 paid to FNUC president Charles Pratt over four years.

In the same report to the university's audit committee, Westerlund also talked about a $6,500 trip to Las Vegas for three senior staff, approved by Pratt, for a one-day seminar that could have been held in Regina.

Trips to Montreal and Hawaii have contributed to the $47,000 in travel costs racked up by Pratt's office last year, Westerlund said.

Westerlund also looked at a massive teepee — a tribute to First Nations veterans — that was built outside the FNUC building in 2008 and 2009 at a cost of $2.57 million.

Of that amount, $216,000 was paid to veterans and other First Nations people to review plans and "monitor progress," Westerlund said.

"Given our very limited resources, I found this expense to be extravagant and imprudent," Westerlund said in his report.

'Very troubling allegations'

In an interview with CBC News on Friday, Norris expressed dismay with the latest allegations of misspending and said an external auditor has been brought in.

"We need to get to the bottom of it," Norris said. "These are very, very troubling allegations."

Norris has also written to the University of Regina's board of governors and requested an emergency meeting to discuss Westerlund's dismissal as well as the "overall financial condition" of FNUC.

"With an utmost respect for academic autonomy, I am compelled to alert your board that these latest matters may magnify significant and sustained uncertainty for FNUC students and other stakeholders," Norris said in his Jan. 18 letter.

Some concerns have been raised that if FNUC fails, it would then become the responsibility of the University of Regina.

The letter asks the U of R's board of governors if it has a plan in place to deal with a potentially worsening situation at FNUC.

Clarence Bellegarde, chair of the FNUC board of governors, told CBC Friday afternoon the university supports the new audit and is taking seriously the financial concerns that have been raised.

He also told CBC that FNUC is financially sound and there's no reason for people to fear for its future.