Chief and band councillor at First Nation removed following audit of nearly $600K powwow – National Post
LEAMINGTON — The chief and a band councillor from a small Southwestern Ontario First Nation have been removed from office in the fallout of a nearly $600,000 band powwow, an audit of which found much of the spending wasn’t backed up.
Some frustrated band members, who sought answers at a weekend membership meeting with the council, got nowhere, told instead answers couldn’t be provided because a police investigation is underway. Chief Louise Hillier and her entire council from the Caldwell First Nation had already been suspended in June, as band members demanded the forensic audit into the powwow held last summer in Leamington to celebrate the band’s $105-million land claim settlement in 2011 with the federal government.
The issue came to a boil over the weekend, at a meeting with band members, during which the band council held an impromptu, closed session during the lunch hour and decided to remove Hillier and councillor Lonnie Dodge, a band source said.
