Funding for Sask. First Nations University in 'significant jeopardy'

REGINA — The Saskatchewan government will make a decision in a matter of days whether to pull funding from controversy-plagued First Nations University of Canada, a provincial minister said Thursday.

"It would be accurate to say there is significant jeopardy regarding public funding for First Nations University," said Advanced Education Minister Rob Norris, while speaking to reporters.

Norris said he had met with the board of governors of the University of Regina and contingency plans are in place to ensure that FNUC students are not disrupted and can continue their classes.

A lawsuit filed by Murray Westerlund, former chief financial officer of the university, alleges he was fired after presenting documents to the university's audit committee that outlined alleged misuse of funds and inappropriate expense claims.

Norris also said the government is particularly concerned that a long-awaited report on governance at FNUC — which has faced repeated calls since 2004 for a smaller, less political board of governors — won't be delivered this month; it has been instead pushed to Feb. 15.

"The risk is that these deliberations on governance (will) spill into the next academic year," said Norris. "And so what we've said is, 'Look, this is not acceptable.' We need this report, we need to hear from the (Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations) and other stakeholders."

The provincial and federal governments are already holding back about $1 million in total from the university.

Saskatchewan's share — about $675,000 — definitely won't flow until allegations of financial impropriety are addressed. The province pays about $250,000 a month to the university.

First Nations University was created in 1976 by an act of the legislative assembly of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations. It is affiliated with the University of Regina and also has campuses in Saskatoon and Prince Albert.