(July 7, 2023) In just the first 3 months of this fiscal year, Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) has already committed all the funds they receive from the federal government for post-secondary and skills training for Métis Citizens. The announcement by MNBC was made this week without disclosing any specific financial details.
Based on MNBC’s past operating budgets, it is possible that MNBC had at least $10 million to expend on student tuition and supports, out of a total $16.6 million post-secondary and skills training budget, but because MNBC has failed to post any operating budget for this fiscal year that began back on April 1st, the exact amount of the budget for post-secondary and skills training is unknown.
In previous budgets, it has been revealed that staff salaries and benefits use up more than $2.2 million dollars of the $16.6 million, while $2.4 million is put aside for “administration” which is a big pot of unallocated funds because staff salaries, travel and office leasing costs are already covered off elsewhere in the budget.
So how in the first 3 months of the fiscal year can MNBC expend or commit millions of dollars in post-secondary and skills training dollars, maybe as much as $10 million or more and then fail to disclose any specific dollar figures? They should have provided the following information:
What was the total amount of funding from the federal government for post-secondary and skills training this fiscal year?
What portion of that funding was actually used for or committed to students for post-secondary and skills training?
How many of the students funded are actually Métis Citizens and how many are not, such as self-identified?
How much of the total amount of funding is being used to pay salaries to staff?
How much of the total amount of funding is being used to pay consultants?
How much of the total amount of funding has been put into “administration”?
BC Métis Leader and former MNBC President Clara Morin Dal Col asks, “Why would MNBC not have provided the information to these basic questions?” She says, “MNBC issues the announcement with the public relations type title of ‘New Standards of Practice Creates a More Efficient Dispersion of Funds for Métis Citizens’ and then fails to provide any of the financial details.”
Ms. Morin Dal Col says, “Yet again there is a total lack of fiscal accountability and transparency. This Board wants to be called a government, but fails even the most basic steps of accountability and fiscal responsibility.
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For further information:
Contact Clara Morin Dal Col
BC Métis Leader
Email: cmdalcol@gmail.com
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