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An Alberta First Nation is mired in controversy after its chief and council recently awarded themselves bonuses worth nearly $700,000, apparently unbeknownst to the band membership until after the cheques were cut.

The Bigstone Cree Nation band council’s decision to take a payment from a band-owned company it controls points to problems with the band’s governance and could be unlawful, according to Sean Jones, a Vancouver lawyer practising Indigenous law.

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“If the band doesn’t have any bylaws that authorize this, there certainly could be a problem here,” he said. “Certainly there’s clearly a risk of conflict of interest.”

The bonus cheques were issued after a plan to nearly double a severance allowance for the First Nation’s elected representatives was abandoned this summer. Chief Gordon Auger had put forward the plan less than a month before he announced his own retirement ahead of the band’s upcoming election, slated for the end of October. After the plan became public, the increase was scrapped — and replaced with bonuses.