Questions arise about computer server after troubling audit at Alexander First Nation

A councillor from Alexander First Nation wants an emergency meeting with federal officials in the wake of an audit and the discovery that a computer server containing financial records had been removed from the band office.

Coun. Allan Paul said Friday he has requested a meeting with federal officials "because the material is so sensitive and we need to have a quiet place for these people to finish the audit."

Others in the community are now vowing to seek a court injunction "to make sure nobody tampers with the records or the computer system," said Loretta Burnstick, a former chief financial officer for the band, and the sister of current chief Kurt Burnstick.

As CBC News first reported Friday, a document summarizing findings of a forensic investigation identified $2.1 million in "unexplained payments" between 2013 and 2015 to a former chief and seven administrative staff.

Paul said RCMP were called to the band office later Friday morning after some people noticed that the computer server was no longer in the band office.

"I have concerns," Paul told CBC News. "They carry sensitive material and I don't know where it's going to go. I don't know who has access to it."

Four days earlier, Paul had voted on a motion to have the server moved and placed in another department. The motion carried but was not acted upon before the computer was moved by someone else.

Loretta Burnstick said the server was removed Thursday under the direction of the chief.

It is now under the protection of the current chief financial officer, she said.

"We had it taken out yesterday to protect the integrity of the files and our whole system," she said. "The forensic investigation is far from complete. We needed to protect all documents and evidence on our computer system."

Last December, Loretta Burnstick said she noticed questionable financial activities leading to the suspension of some staff members.

In March, Kurt Burnstick and four councillors — not including Paul — passed a resolution to appoint accounting firm Meyers Norris Penny to investigate the financial activities of past and present elected officials and staff.

The motion was passed just days after news surfaced that the chief had been charged with sexual assault.

On Aug. 4, the firm presented its findings to band membership. According to the presentation document, auditors found former chief Herb Arcand and current tribal administrator Alphonse Arcand collected more than $1 million in unexplained amounts — which both men deny.

Investigators said the remainder of the unexplained payments went to six other band administrators. They are no longer employed by the band.

Last week, a group called the Alexander Women Warriors held a rally calling for the chief's resignation after he was charged with two more counts of sexual assault.

At the same time, Loretta Burnstick and other members of the community began distributing the audit document at the request of the chief. They are also pushing for the financial investigation to continue and want Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada to oversee and pay for it.