A three-month investigation into more than two dozen allegations against the president of First Nations University of Canada, commissioned by the institution’s board in 2023, concluded with a stark assessment of her conduct.
“The Investigator found that [President Jacqueline Ottmann] created a “circle of favor” around and inside her office, which attaches to the individuals whom she favors, and excludes those whom she does not favor from having influence,” said the 200-plus page report by Deloitte Legal, an affiliate of the university’s then-accounting firm Deloitte LLP.
“This phenomenon is sometimes termed ’empire building.'”
The report found Ottmann violated financial policies, disregarded oversight and control systems, and was involved in multiple cases of nepotism.
While Deloitte was finalizing that report in mid-2023, Ottmann fired the key whistleblower, Jason Wong, the university’s VP of finance and administration.
In a separate confidential report, a preliminary draft of which was provided to CBC, Deloitte Legal found, on a balance of probabilities, that the firing violated several university policies and “was at least in part, retaliatory.”
That report said the decision could “have a chilling effect on other employees’ willingness to bring forward complaints in good faith.”
CBC obtained the main report and the report into Wong’s firing this summer. Deloitte found that most of the allegations leveled against Ottmann were substantiated on a balance of probabilities standard, meaning the behaviours were more likely than not to have occurred.
CBC asked Ottmann for comment about the findings of these reports but she did not reply.
Some on the FNUniv board, like Allan Adam, the board’s vice-chair, voted to fire Ottmann. But the majority, made up of First Nations chiefs, stood by her.
Adam worries that First Nations University, which has a history of political interference, may once again be heading down a dark road.
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“How many chances are we going to get? We keep repeating and keep making the same mistakes over and over,” said Adam, a member of the Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation in northern Saskatchewan.
In an emailed statement, current board chair Sherry Saevil told CBC that after a rigorous review of the reports, “The board has complete confidence in President Ottmann and we stand behind her.” She added, “We continue to work with her in monitoring the leadership and priorities of FNUniv.”
Regarding the findings of the reports, Saevil said, “The reports you referenced are confidential and privileged documents. The fact that they are in circulation indicates a serious breach of confidentiality. I will not be participating in any discussion or interview regarding their contents.”
First Nations University, established in 1976 as Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, is Canada’s only First Nations-owned nationally mandated university, with campuses in Regina, Saskatoon and Prince Albert.
While the institution is funded in part by the federal and provincial governments, it was established through an agreement between the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (now named the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations) and the University of Regina. The FSIN is led by an elected executive and represents Saskatchewan’s 74 First Nations.
Deloitte found Ottmann was involved in “empire building,” in which the workplace culture was “divided into ‘in-group’ and ‘out-group’ dynamics,” an approach which, Deloitte said, “engenders distrust, suspicion and a lack of accountability.
“The damaging effects of empire building behavior is long lasting,” the report said.
The investigation substantiated nine allegations of nepotism. For example, Deloitte found Ottmann hired a first cousin and a distant cousin to roles at the university without declaring a conflict of interest.
The report’s authors concluded Ottmann’s “overall lack of candour in regard to the allegations of nepotism undermine confidence in her office.”
Investigators found she hired close friends and colleagues like Gord Hunchak, who she brought on as VP of university relations in March 2022.
The report says Ottman “bypassed the Board and the VP Hiring Policy in order to create a new VP UR position and directly appoint G. Hunchak to that role without an open job competition.”
The salary grid at the university says a VP should receive between $119,000 and $179,000. Ottman gave Hunchuk a salary package totalling $190,000 annually.
In addition, investigators found, Ottmann agreed to provide Hunchak with a lucrative payout clause “that is not commercially reasonable.” If Hunchak was terminated without cause, he “would receive any remaining salary left on his five-year employment contract, less required deductions.”
Ottmann made this move, investigators found, “without the board’s express approval, such that the board was forced to approve a decision that had effectively already been made.” CBC asked Hunchak for comment but he did not reply.
“Our findings showed that [Ottmann] was engaged in hiring practices that rewarded or preferred those individuals with whom she, or those in her circle of favor, had connections, familial or otherwise, with beneficial contract terms, elevated status and opportunities for secondment and advancement within the institution,” said the report.
The report also identified five instances in which Ottmann failed to adhere to required financial controls.
“The Respondent’s expense reports also contained inconsistencies described by the Respondent as errors, such as duplicate expense claims, expense claims for alcohol and personally depositing an expense reimbursement from an external organization that was intended for the University,” the report said, noting she eventually did repay that money.
And the report found that in 2022-23, Ottmann exceeded her annual budget by more than $200,000, in part because she hired a new research specialist, but didn’t get board approval until after the expenses had been incurred.
“This kind of decision-making — where board approval was sought after decisions had been made, as a fait-accomplie — is endemic to the Respondents’ leadership style, which was generally not consultative or inclusive of other stakeholders.”
The Deloitte investigators cast doubt on whether Ottmann understood the basics of her job.
It concluded she “lacks insight into the importance of her office within the governance framework set by the Board of Governors” and has “demonstrated a fundamental lack of awareness of her role in ensuring effective management.”
When commissioning the investigation, the board did not ask Deloitte to recommend disciplinary action.
However, Deloitte did recommend the board take over the operation of the university “until these various performance issues with the respondent are addressed and course-corrected.”
Allan Adam said after reading Deloitte’s report, he and the board chair at the time, Richard Boudreault, a University of Waterloo adjunct professor and the chief scientist at the Canadian Space Mining Corporation, had concluded Ottmann should be fired.
“The president is not the right person for the job and we need a good person in there that is going to be there for the best interest of us, the people. And not just their own interests,” Adam said, expressing what he told the board. Boudreault declined to comment for this story.
Shortly after the FNUniv board commissioned the report, a wave of new members took their place on the board. Most of them were Saskatchewan First Nations chiefs.
Adam said Ottmann made her case to the board including these new members.
“She would try and make her position known, that, ‘No, I’m the victim here. These are people that are after me. They don’t like me,'” Adam said.
He said the chiefs appeared to be of one mind when it came to the president’s future with the university.
“They said, ‘We’re behind our president 100 per cent’ right away. That was their position. ‘We’re behind her,'” said Adam.
Adam said he has no idea what motivated this level of loyalty to Ottmann, despite the concerns raised in the report.
He said he and Boudreault were standing alone.
In an email sent June 12, 2024, new board member Chief Evan Taypotat highlighted the gap between Adam and Boudreault and the rest of the board.
“You and Richard quickly both said you wanted to terminate her,” wrote Taypotat, one of the newly appointed board members. “The rest of the board voted to keep her on with restrictions.”
Taypotat told them they would need to put their differences aside or “look in the mirror and agree to leave the board.” Taypotat hasn’t responded to CBC’s request for comment.
Adam and Boudreault both resigned in the summer of 2024, shortly after that exchange.
Adam said he worries that the chiefs are making politically motivated decisions, rather than considering the best interests of the university.
He said FNUniv has a history of destructive political interference and he is worried that history may be repeating itself.
The Saskatchewan Indian Federated College was established in 1976, and was renamed First Nations University in 2003. Its governance and operational framework is set out in FSIN legislation — an Act Respecting the First Nations University of Canada.
In the years following, the newly renamed institution became plagued with allegations and concerns about political interference.
At that time, the board was made up of 18 members, 14 of which were political appointees.
Between 2005 and 2010, students and professors raised concerns that this politically influenced board was making decisions that were harmful to the institution.
In 2009-10, the federal and provincial governments announced they were withholding funding from the organization until the FSIN improved board governance. “It is time for politicians to step back and the academic leadership to step forward,” said then-Saskatchewan minister of advanced education, Rob Norris, in February 2010.
The FSIN changed the university’s legislation to forbid “any current politically elected or appointed representatives” on the board. Instead, it required a nine-member professional board, made up of experts from fields like law, accounting and education.
That remained the rule until the FSIN changed the Act in 2022 — which now reads “the board shall consist of five elected leaders and four non-elected members.”
Audrey Dreaver, an assistant professor of Indigenous fine arts at FNUniv, said she is worried that the spectre of political interference is once again hovering over the university.
She said she’s been watching the FNUniv devolve under Ottmann’s leadership. She found the dismissal of VP Jason Wong to be most alarming.
“I thought, ‘Where are the stakeholders?'” she said, referring to the federal and provincial governments and the University of Regina. “Why aren’t there red flags going up all over the place?”
Dreaver said she’s frustrated that those governments didn’t put rules in place to stop the FSIN from ever again creating a politicized board.
She said the federal and provincial governments “slapped a Band-Aid on it and then let everybody carry on. And of course, the political nature of the FSIN resulted in us being here again.”
CBC asked both levels of governments to respond to Dreaver’s concerns.
Ottawa didn’t reply. The Saskatchewan government said it does “not play a role in choosing or appointing the board,” but it didn’t say why it did not put measures in place to stop the FSIN from changing the board’s composition.
CBC also asked Ottawa and the province for their thoughts on the investigations of Ottmann.
Ottawa did not acknowledge CBC’s email.
Saskatchewan said it is aware of the investigation and “has communicated to the Board its expectation that the institution is accountable, transparent and follows governance best practices.”
