Caldwell First Nation council hopes chief will accept 'olive branch' and reconcile

Things have been tense at Caldwell First Nation between band council and chief, but two councillors told CBC News Thursday they are happy to move forward if chief Mary Duckworth would participate in an outstanding internal investigation. 

The investigation is one of the bigger factors at play in this First Nation's leadership conflict.

Coun. Robyn van Oirschot and Coun. Stan Scott — who spoke to CBC News on behalf of the entire band council — said it started after staff made complaints against Duckworth. And despite repeatedly promising she would be cooperative, said van Oirschot, Duckworth did not fulfil her promise.

Van Oirschot did not elaborate on the complaints, citing confidentiality reasons. The issue is also being handled by legal counsel for council and counsel for chief.

"If the chief does participate and all parties involved are okay with the findings being released to the nation, we will be releasing [the specific allegations]," said van Oirschot.

In June, council voted to put Duckworth on a paid leave of absence. Two months later, she made a surprise return to office, saying the reason she was made to leave was due to "nepotism."

However, the two councillors speaking on behalf of band council had something different to say.

One specific disagreement they mentioned was when Duckworth supposedly raised the idea of bringing a traditional teacher for the membership, which councillors supported. However, they found out the person Duckworth had in mind was a relative, which raised concerns.

Van Oirschot said it needed to be put out for tender and so council refused to accept the contract.

For the nation, such a conflict of interest, if gone public, may not sit so well with the membership.

In January this year, council and chief were newly-elected after a powwow audit revealed inappropriate spending and a contract being awarded to former chief Louise Hillier's son without due process.

"The council is going to hold the chief to the same standard she held former chief Louise Hillier to," said van Oirschot. "And we will hold each other to that same standard, and we do hold each other to that standard."

After speaking with CBC News earlier this week regarding being locked out of her office, Duckworth has yet to respond to CBC News' most recent request for an interview.

Deteriorating relationship

It wasn't any single event that had triggered council to announce Duckworth's leave in June. For months leading to that decision, disagreements and conflict were mounting.

Some they overcame in the beginning, but as time went on, personal feelings may have been involved.

"I think maybe the chief took it more personal, and it wasn't a personal attack," said van Oirschot. "We can't sway from the policy, even though it would be nice. We supported her ideas, but they couldn't be backed up by policy and procedures."

And after one council meeting in April that was said to be 'tense', van Oirschot said Duckworth had wanted to resign two days later.

But council fully supported her as chief and convinced her to stay, she said. Duckworth then took a week off.

However, things weren't fixed when she came back.

Adding to that, van Oirschot alleged Duckworth wasn't working on issues such as the elder's pension, which would have required consulting with actuaries. She also missed a general membership meeting in May, where she was supposed to speak to membership about the pension.

"For me, if you're getting a $95,000-a-year salary, I think you should be doing the work and producing results. And you should be attending meetings to which our membership is going to be asking questions," said van Oirschot.

Extending an olive branch

Three weeks before council voted for her to go on leave, Scott said Duckworth retained legal counsel and restricted communication with councillors about the pending internal investigation.

Despite what seems like a strained relationship, van Oirschot said council is still ready to reconcile and continue moving forward to build the nation, and that Duckworth just needs to do her part in the investigation.

"I'm hoping she accepts the olive branch, because the membership does not deserve what is happening," said van Oirschot.

"We all voted for her. We all believe in her. We all want to work with her. And so that's what makes this situation even more difficult for all of us," said Scott.

The grand chief of the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians, Joel Abram, said it's possible to handle these conflicts through a mediation process. When posed to the two councillors, they said Duckworth was not cooperative with their suggestion to mediate.

Are funds at stake?

For years the First Nation has been working to establish a reserve near Leamington, Ont. after it received a $105-million land claim settlement from the federal government in 2010.

Van Oirschot said this conflict between council and chief have no bearing on the reserve building, and they are not concerned about its progress in light of the unresolved issues with Duckworth.

"We're still moving forward with trying to get our designation. Council has been focused on that," Scott said.

With regard to day-to-day operational funding, it's not clear if Caldwell will be affected.

"As long as the First Nation has the ability to maintain quorum and continues to deliver essential services to the community," Indigenous Services Canada spokesperson Martine Stevens said in an email, "The Department would not consider them to be "at risk", and therefore their operational funding would not be affected."

During the two months of Duckworth's absence, Scott said they had to cancel meetings twice, contradicting her claim of four meetings being cancelled.

Scott explained the meetings were scheduled far in advance, and with the summer season and Duckworth's absence, quorum was not always maintained and two meetings were cancelled.

At this point, it's not clear how the two parties plan to reach a resolution.

During an upcoming general membership meeting on Sept. 22, council expects there to be an address about the ongoing conflict with chief. And Duckworth, on Tuesday, told CBC News she will be bringing her grievances to the table that day.