Court sides with Guardians Network in $6.2-million civil suit

A Manitoba judge has ordered a former employee of the First Nations National Guardians Network to repay more than $6.2 million to the organization, funds which it says were misappropriated.

In March, the non-profit launched a civil lawsuit against Melanie Desjarlais, the organization’s former director of finance, claiming she used funds earmarked for Indigenous Guardians programs for personal transactions, including flights, tickets to hockey games and purchases on Tiktok, PayPal and Apple.

The First Nations National Guardians Network, or NGN, administered funds from the federal Department of Environment and Climate Change that paid for Indigenous Guardians programs across Canada, including in the Northwest Territories’ Sahtu region.

In a statement of claim filed by NGN, the organization accused Desjarlais of falsifying at least one financial document to hide a dwindling bank balance.

NGN said the fraud left it without the money to pay basic operating costs, and that multiple First Nations Guardians Programs incurred reimbursable expenses that went unpaid.

A statement of defence was not filed in the proceedings.

In a statement to Cabin Radio, a spokesperson for the Department of Environment and Climate Change said a new committee will be established to review future Guardians programming proposals.

“The committee will include First Nation Guardians knowledge keepers and federal employees, who will jointly review all proposals to provide advice and funding recommendations, supporting a fair, transparent and collaborative review process,” the spokesperson said.

“This follows a similar model to what has been used to support guardians funding to-date.

“ECCC is continuing to work with NGN to finalize the current round of projects and is assessing its model moving forward.”

A spokesperson for the Winnipeg Police Service said an investigation into the misappropriated funds remains ongoing.