Indigenous activist Hans McCarthy and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation are going to Federal Court Wednesday to enhance financial transparency rights for band members.

Hans McCarthy, Frog Lake First Nation member, stated, “As a community, we are a family and it’s upsetting that we have to become activists just to find out what is happening with our own First Nation’s money.”

“This court case is important,” he said, “because it’s going to help all bands while increasing accountability in my community.”

The First Nation’s trust fund, sourced from natural resource revenues, significantly decreased from $102 million in 2013 to under $9 million by 2024.

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McCarthy and the Taxpayers Federation sought band council resolutions on the fund via federal access-to-information requests, but Indigenous Services Canada refused disclosure.

In his court application, McCarthy argues that Ottawa has a duty to disclose these records to band members who request them and that both the federal government and First Nation leaders must be transparent about the trust fund.

“Hans McCarthy deserves to know what his leaders are doing with his band’s money,” said Gage Haubrich, CTF Prairie Director. “This court case is about a clear principle: if money is being held in trust for a band, then band members have a right to know how it is being used.”

“The federal government should be helping grassroots activists like me, not fighting us in court,” McCarthy added. A timeline of events can be found here.

A recent forensic audit revealed $74.6 million in federal funds given to Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation in Loon Lake, Saskatchewan, over five years are untraceable due to vanished financial records.

A PricewaterhouseCoopers audit, commissioned by Indigenous Services Canada, found that auditors were unable to investigate most of 29 financial misconduct allegations due to missing documents, which First Nation representatives suspect were intentionally removed or destroyed.

Of 29 complaints, 17 couldn't be fully investigated due to missing documentation, six were substantiated, and six dismissed, Blacklock’s reported. Auditors identified at least $523,784 in suspicious, undocumented spending.

A First Nation Council-requested audit, prompted by a 2019 meeting with federal officials about a community suicide crisis, investigated Chief Ronald Mitsuing's concerns about potential fund mismanagement from 2017-2020.

Federal spending on Indigenous programs surged from $10.3 billion in 2017 to $23.3 billion, while departmental staffing increased from 4,600 to 8,300, raising oversight concerns.