A thorough investigation lasting three months into over two dozen allegations against the president of First Nations University of Canada, initiated by the institution’s board in 2023, wrapped up with a blunt evaluation of her behavior.
According to the 200-plus-page report by Deloitte Legal, a branch of the university’s then-accounting firm Deloitte LLP, “The Investigator found that [President Jacqueline Ottmann] created a “circle of favor” within and surrounding her office, favoring specific individuals while excluding others from holding sway, a practice sometimes referred to as ’empire building.'”
The report revealed that Ottmann breached financial protocols, disregarded oversight mechanisms, and engaged in multiple instances of nepotism. Concurrently, Ottmann terminated the primary whistleblower, Jason Wong, the university’s VP of finance and administration, while Deloitte was concluding its report in mid-2023.
In a confidential report, Deloitte Legal found that Ottmann’s dismissal of Wong violated several university policies and was potentially retaliatory. This decision was deemed to potentially deter other employees from raising genuine complaints in the future.
The main report, along with the report concerning Wong’s termination, was obtained by CBC during the summer. Deloitte confirmed that most of the accusations against Ottmann were substantiated based on a probability standard, indicating that the reported behaviors were more likely to have occurred than not.
Despite requests for comments on the reports’ findings, Ottmann did not respond to CBC. While some members of the FNUniv board, like Allan Adam, the board’s vice-chair, supported Ottmann’s dismissal, the majority, comprised of First Nations chiefs, maintained their backing for her.
Concerns were raised by Adam about a potential return to a troubled path for the historically politically influenced First Nations University. Established in 1976 as Saskatchewan Indian Federated College, the institution is the sole national university owned by First Nations in Canada, with campuses in Regina, Saskatoon, and Prince Albert.
While the university receives funding from federal and provincial sources, its inception resulted from an agreement between the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (now the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations) and the University of Regina, representing 74 First Nations in Saskatchewan.
