First Nation lays off staff
The Liard First Nation has temporarily laid off all non-essential staff.
The Liard First Nation has temporarily laid off all non-essential staff.
A release sent out Friday said the First Nation is in a difficult financial situation and is looking to hire a firm to conduct a financial investigation.
"After a review of our financial situation, council has concluded that we are in a very difficult situation,” Chief Daniel Morris, elected last month, said in the release.
"We see the layoffs as a temporary situation. As soon as we are able, we will be re-hiring our staff.”
Staff working in essential services such as water delivery and home care have not been laid off.
"We walked into a major mess here,” Coun. Tim Stewart added to Morris' comments.
Stewart went on to say the chief and council are confident they will be able to turn the situation around.
The release notes the First Nation is seeking assistance from federal Aboriginal Affairs officials and the Yukon government.
Former chief Liard McMillan could not be reached for comment this morning to respond to the allegations that his leadership left the First Nation in dire financial straits.
Both Morris and George Morgan, who has been hired as the First Nations' acting executive director, were also unavailable for comment this morning.
An updated press release was expected from the First Nation later today.
In the meantime, the First Nation is the subject of an audit by Aboriginal Affairs that will cover 2011 to 2013.
The department did not respond to queries made this morning about the audit nor its role following the layoffs before this afternoon's press deadline.
Comments (1)
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Now outside on Jan 13, 2014 at 8:36 am
Hmm, how interesting. Shades of Attawapiskat and a few other locations.
Yearly audits of all bands must be carried out and the results made public for members and Canadians who provide some $10B hard earned tax dollars in support.
That should be a basic right for all Canadians, which includes Aboriginals.