OTTAWA - Aboriginal Affairs Minister John Duncan and the chief of the troubled Attawapiskat reserve have concluded a critical meeting.
Duncan met with Chief Theresa Spence and other area chiefs for about 90 minutes today at the regional Aboriginal Affairs office in Thunder Bay, Ont.
The two sides were attempting to smooth over their conflicts and plot a way forward for the band, which is facing a housing crisis as winter settles in on their northern Ontario reserve.
The chief and the minister have already agreed on how best to deliver emergency aid, retrofit winter shelter and assemble 22 modular homes for families currently living in precarious housing.
But they've been at loggerheads over how the band's finances should be managed since Ottawa seized control over band finances two weeks ago and handed its fiscal management over to a third party.
The move means the band must pay an outside manager about $1,300 a day and can no longer cut checks or make decisions independently.
Spence argues her community is being penalized for seeking help, but Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the band has mismanaged its money.
Ottawa has transferred about $90 million to the 3,000-member First Nation over the past five years.
