The Assembly of First Nations passed an emergency resolution at its general assembly in Montreal on Tuesday cancelling a forensic audit that had been pushed by former national chief RoseAnne Archibald before she was ousted as national chief last year.
The resolution states that the audit of the APN’s books “is not warranted and should not be undertaken,” on the advice of accounting firm BDO, which conducted a review.
Mme Archibald first called for an audit in 2022, when allegations of financial irregularities were raised with the AFN. At the annual general meeting that year, chiefs voted in favor of a resolution to audit the AFN’s finances over 10 years, with a particular focus on salaries and contracts.
After being rejected in June 2023, Mme Archibald said the audit should still take place.
In an emergency resolution Tuesday, the chiefs voted to rescind it and instead ordered the assembly to comply with the Canada Labour Code.
The resolution states that BDO’s review focused on three items: severance packages for former employees, contracts and credit cards.
“BDO collected documents for review and conducted interviews with various individuals, including past and present AFN employees and former National Chief Archibald,” the resolution states.
Following this review, BDO concluded that a forensic audit was not recommended, but that the APN should update its financial policies and enforcement provisions.
The resolution also calls on the APN to update all its policies to ensure that there are clear processes for procurement procedures and their application.
The leaders also say the organization must impose strict compliance policies on the use of credit cards it issues. Failure to submit receipts will result in the cards being cancelled, the resolution states.
An amendment that would have required these procedural changes to be completed within a year was rejected.