Two of five candidates running for chief at Little Grand Rapids First Nation are locked in court battle ahead of the Dec. 23 election, involving allegations of vote buying and misuse of band funds.
Little Grand Rapids is a fly-in Anishinaabe community of 1,800 near the Manitoba-Ontario border, 370 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg.
Oliver Owen, who was chief from 2021 to 2023, is suing Clinton Keeper for defamation. Keeper defeated Owen in a 2023 election and was chief until council was dissolved at the end of November ahead of the current campaign period..
In a statement of claim filed on Nov. 5, Owen says Keeper “repeatedly and publicly stated… that I stole money from the band and used band funds to purchase airplanes… these statements are false, malicious and damaging to my personal and professional reputation.”
Owen owns Amik Aviation. Court documents say Keeper alleged that Owen used band funds to benefit Amik.
A 2023 forensic audit by Meyers Norris Penny (MNP) included in Owen’s statement of claim determined Amik Aviation had been properly compensated for legitimate services to the fly-in community and that payments were made prior to Owen being chief in November 2021 so “we do not consider this payment a conflicted of interest,” the auditors wrote.
In a statement of defence filed on Dec. 1, Keeper alleges “countless community members” were “concerned” that band money was being spent on Amik Aviation in “what seemed to be a monopoly held by Oliver.” Keeper denies defaming Owen.
Get breaking National news
The audit, ordered by the band, looked into transactions from one of the band’s bank accounts between April 2018 and December 2021. The account contains revenues from the band’s partial ownership of the South Beach Casino, just outside of Winnipeg.
The audit found about $8 million went into that account and about $8 million went out including “payments to the parties of interest which were unapproved or unsupported total $1.6 million.” The parties of interest were on council during the audit period.
Topping the list, according to the audit, at nearly $585,000 including $38,000 in honorariums. Owen received $3,000 for an honorarium that the audit found was unsupported or unapproved. Neither has explained in court filings why.
Auditors noted the $1.6 million in unsupported or unapproved payments were in addition to almost $3 million paid to the same people for salaries and expenses, from the band’s main account. That account was not part of the audit.
Timothy Fry, Keeper’s lawyer, says his client disputes the audit findings and was never interviewed by auditors. He also says three witnesses told auditors there was supporting documentation for expenses.
The audit found 86 per cent of payments out the account in question, were in even dollar amounts including 125 payments of $1,000, 89 $2,000 payments, 69 $3,000 and 69 $5,000 payments.
During a two month period in 2022 nearly $58,000 was taken from the account, 95 per cent of the 42 cheques only had one signature not the required two. MNP couldn’t confirm who signed the cheques but the audit says “interviewees told us the cheque book which included the cheques was in Clinton Keeper’s possession.”
MNP determined Keeper “was responsible for managing the account.”
In Keeper’s sworn affidavit he says a cheque book was stolen from him and he notified police and council immediately. It’s unclear if anyone was charged with stealing the cheque book.
In his statement of defence, Keeper said he’s “not responsible for any financial irregularities” and “never conducted or approved any improper transactions.”
With his affidavit, Keeper filed an Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) investigation report that substantiated allegations against Owen of vote buying during the 2023 election. The report mentions a video showing Owen “sitting in his truck parked at the rear of (a polling station in Winnipeg for off-reserve band members) … while five individuals gather to receive cash from Mr. Owen, then depart.”
Owen explained when people in-need ask him for money, he assists and denies vote-buying.
The same investigation found Blair Owen, who is on council and the son of Oliver Owen, engaged in vote-buying purchasing eight TVs for community members ahead of the 2023 election.
“I have always helped members with household items and because there was an invoice marked Nov. 8 (during the 2023 campaign) the investigator concluded I must be vote buying,” Blair Owen told Global News, adding the TVs were not distributed until after the election.
The investigation found vote-buying allegations against Keeper “unsubstantiated.”
The matter will not go before a judge before the Dec. 23 election in which five people are vying to be chief and 32 are on the ballot for six councillor seats.
Comments