Fighting for First Nations Accountability with Charmaine Stick

Charmaine Stick is a First Nations activist who lives on the Onion Lake reserve on the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.

Charmaine has been fighting for years to see her band’s financial records and to find out how much her chief and council are being paid. The Onion Lake band has consistently declined to follow the requirements of the First Nations Financial Transparency Act – and the Trudeau government refuses to enforce the law.

So, Charmaine and the CTF are stepping in. We’ve filed a court application to have the law enforced and give Charmaine access to the books. 

Charmaine won the first round in court. The band appealed and we won there as well. And the Onion Lake Cree Nation published its basic financial documents for the first time. It's an important victory for First Nations activists across the country.

Of course, important fights always go more than one round. There will be other legal hurdles. We're confident that we'll win in the end, but we know it's going to be a long struggle.

Charmaine has been taking this courageous stand for years and she's not giving up. And we're committed to standing with her. The CTF has committed to covering all the legal bills – which will be tens of thousands of dollars. If you would like to chip in to help cover Charmaine and the CTF’s legal bills you can do so by using the donate button below or by clicking here.

Fighting for First Nations Accountability with Charmaine Stick