MNBC’s proposed $79 million budget needs to be carefully scrutinized

(February 24, 2021) Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) has posted on its website a draft operating budget of $79 million for fiscal year 2021/22 but it raises more questions than it answers. The proposed budget appears to be more than $40 million higher than the operating budget for the current fiscal year. So where’s the money coming from?

The source of the $79 million is not revealed. While it is assumed that at least $30 million of the $79 million will come from the federal government based on earlier funding commitments negotiated by MNBC President Clara Morin Dal Col and the leadership of the Métis National Council, there is no indication where the other $49 million is coming from. If one speculates that MNBC is expecting a large portion of the $49 million from the provincial government, MNBC would be wise not to spend it until they see the money because the Government of BC is struggling with a huge $13.6 billion deficit in the current fiscal year. The next fiscal year doesn’t look much better because of the continuing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the provincial Minister of Finance has announced that she will not be tabling the provincial budget until April 20, 2021.

On the proposed expenses side of the MNBC budget, there are some eyebrow raising amounts. The budget proposes $2.67 million in consulting, professional fees and honoraria. Is this where the salary increase for the Board Directors that nine of them have been pushing for, is going to be included? Here are some other rather large numbers that deserve careful scrutiny:

· $1.9 million in travel and meetings

· $787 thousand in media and promotions plus an additional $963 thousand for communications for a total of $1.7 million

· $13.4 million in salaries and benefits

· $8.8 million in administration

While President Clara Morin Dal Col commends the proposed $1.48 million in funding for Chartered Communities, she suggests it could be higher if some of the other proposed expenditure amounts were reduced and the savings transferred to funding for communities. The President however has a cautionary message about the draft budget stating, “The amount of funding that MNBC actually gets from the BC government may be considerably less than what is being projected.”

Actions of nine Board Directors on January 18, 2021 effectively removed President Morin Dal Col from office. The President is seeking to have the Supreme Court of British Columbia nullify the actions of the nine Board Directors. President Morin Dal Col has maintained that the actions of the nine Board Directors amount to a thinly disguised attempt to overturn the results of MNBC’s election of just five months ago, in which she was re-elected by a significant margin by MNBC Citizens.

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For further information:

Contact President Clara Morin Dal Col

Email: cmdalcol@gmail.com