Lax Kw'alaams finds saying goodbye can be an expensive thing

Bidding farewell to former employees, is proving to be an interesting cost item from the Financial ledgers for the community of Lax Kw'alaams north of Prince Rupert.

In their most recent newsletter, the Band Council makes note of the cost of settlements for a number of wrongful dismissals over a period of time from 2015-17.

The disclosure comes as part of the Financial Review notes from the community update released last week. 

In their update, the Band Council notes that Administration is currently reviewing all finances and in a report to Council, outlined that 1.1 million dollars has been spent from 2015-17 on wrongful dismissal lawsuits.

Among the background on the issue, the report notes that the amount does not include legal fees and forensic audits. 

As well, the report observes that  the critical issue was what the authors call governance and political interference in the application of labour law. 

There are no further details relayed related to the lawsuits or the previous issues noted during that period of time.

The report also highlights that the Council has now ensured that professional managers are hired in each sector and that only two management positions remain to be filled.

You can examine the full community update here. 

For more notes related to Lax Kw'alaams see our archive page here.