Misty Lake Lodge owner buys ads demanding release of MANFF audit

The owner of Misty Lake Lodge in Gimli, Man.,is taking to the airwaves to call onthe federal government to release a key audit into the financial activities of the Manitoba Association of Native Firefighters (MANFF).

Mike Bruneau says the government is withholding the audit results, despite his numerous requests to make it public.

"I'm going to pay for ads to get the government to respond," he told CBC News on Tuesday. "I've just been ignored."

The radio advertisementcalls on the public to contact both the provincial and federal governments to release theKPMGaudit into MANFF that was ordered by the federalAboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Departmentlast year,when allegations of misspending, nepotism and drug abuse by MANFF staff surfaced.

Bruneau, who launched a lawsuit earlier this month naming the federal government and MANFF, saidthe agencies owe him almost $3 million in unpaid bills left over from accommodations and food that he saidhe provided to First Nations evacuees displaced by the 2011 flood.

"I want answers for theseevacuees,"Bruneausaid in an interview. "I think there are people out there, the other taxpayers who are saying,'Enough's enough.'"

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Bruneau said he also wants accountability from the government on more than $85 millionin flood aid that was funnelled to MANFF to care for the aboriginal evacuees.

The lodge closed down in the fall of 2013, after the last of the flood evacuees were moved out.

In an email,a spokesperson for Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canadasaida summary of the findings will be posted on the department'swebsite "in due course" after it is reviewed for any privacy issues.

"The report is being reviewed, and will then follow the Department's standard posting process, which includes the review for any privacy issues, translation of the material and a comparative read for quality assurance. Once complete, a summary report will be posted to the AANDC website,"the statement reads in part.

For Bruneau,that isn't good enough. He saidthe public has a right to know what happened to the money.

"The government has to give us some kind of answer," he said. "The whole audit needs to be released as is."

There have been numerous investigations into MANFF,including an internal investigation anda management review, in addition to the KPMG audit.

None of those reports has been made public.

The Canadian Red Cross took over care of the 2011 flood evacuees earlier this year,and MANFF continues to handle short-term evacuations of First Nations in the province affected by flooding.