Where’s the MNBC Budget for the new Fiscal Year 2023/24?

(May 7, 2023) It has been over a month since a new fiscal year started and Métis Nation British Columbia (MNBC) has yet to post its operating budget for the new fiscal year 2023/24. Posting the budget shows MNBC Citizens how this Board is planning to spend the public funds it receives from the federal and provincial governments for the next year.

Last year, the Board posted planned expenditures of $71.8 million for 2022/23, and the year before it was a $79 million dollar budget. So where is the budget for this year showing where tens of millions of dollars are going to be spent? In the past, the current treasurer of the non-profit organization talked about the need for accountability and transparency, but yet over a month into the new fiscal year, no information about the 2023/24 budget year has been posted for MNBC Citizens.

BC Métis Leader and former MNBC President Clara Morin Dal Col asks, “Where is the accountability and transparency? Various members of this Board have time to fly to New York for a UN function and photo ops (the VP even took in a ball game), and to Ottawa to attend a political convention, but yet can’t tell the citizens how they are planning to spend millions of public dollars this year.”

Ms. Morin Dal Col said, “These millions of dollars are not the Board’s personal dollars. Citizens have the right to know how much the Board plans to spend on Board travel and meetings, staff salaries, and various programs. Last year the cost of travel and meetings was projected to be a whopping $2.4 million, while staffing and training costs were pegged at a mind-boggling $20.5 million.”

She added, “This Board should also be telling us how much they plan to spend on purchasing property. How much have they spent on property so far, and how much are taxes and upkeep costing? We need to be extremely careful when it comes to property purchases. The current President was a member of the Board years ago which decided to buy a school that got us into debt of more than $7 million of which according to the last audited statements we are still paying for. There is a need for fiscal transparency and accountability.”

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For further information:

Contact Clara Morin Dal Col

BC Métis Leader

Email: cmdalcol@gmail.com