Over the years, the federal government has poured billions of dollars into the administration and implementation of Indian affairs. In fact, the federal government spends roughly $8 billion per year. Regrettably, the federal government has not followed the increase in spending with a requirement for increased accountability. Thus the money is often wasted.

Keeseekoose is a small native community in south-eastern Saskatchewan and has received a great deal of press lately. The reason is the allegation the former chief and council stole money that was budgeted for the local St. Phillips School.

Saskatchewan RCMP recently charged two officials with stealing from the public-school bank account. The school principal, Teresa Sanderson and the school's education co-ordinator, Eunice Kitchemonia-Cote, were both charge with theft. No charges have been laid against the former chief.

Louis Stevenson is the chief of Manitoba's Peguis Indian band. Chief Stevenson stands accused of manipulating the results of the last band election. Allegedly, Chief Stevenson gave between $75,000 and $100,000 in exchange for votes. Other allegations include attempts to influence voters while they were in the voting booth.

A former Health Canada bureaucrat has pleaded guilty to fraud charges stemming from a multimillion-dollar scandal at an addiction centre on the Sagkeeng native reserve in Manitoba. Nottingham was one of nine people charged in an investigation into the Virginia Fontaine Addictions Foundation - a treatment centre that received millions of dollars in federal funding and spent money on items including a Caribbean cruise for 70 staff members.

These are just three recent examples that illustrate the need for increased accountability. The reason abuses occur is because once the federal government transfers the money (tax dollars) pegged for Indian affairs to native councils, the Auditor General of Canada no longer has the authority to audit how and where the money is spent. No checks and balance foster inefficiencies, redundancies, corruption and even abuse.

Since the current mandate of the auditor general does not include native governments, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation strongly recommends the federal government expand the mandate should to include native governments. This of course is no guarantee that abuses like the ones described above will not occur. The audits would inevitably uncover waste, mismanagement, and corruption and provide band members and taxpayers with an indication of the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of services being offered with tax dollars on reserves.

The federal government will meet with aboriginal leaders on November 24th at a First Ministers' conference to discuss issues affecting native Canadians. This is a perfect opportunity to not only discuss, but to announce the expansion of the mandate of the auditor general. However, if the past is any indication, the federal politicians will smile for the cameras and write more cheques with little or any strings attached.