Frog Lake First Nation – Chief Greg Desjarlais

Frog Lake First Nation is a Cree community 207 km east of Edmonton. Total population is reported as 3,591 as of June 2023, with 2,123 members residing on reserve and 1,541 living off-reserve. Band member Hans McCarthy and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation are taking Frog Lake First Nation and federal government to court today over a lack of financial transparency. Between 2013 and 2024, the Frog Lake First Nation’s trust fund went from $102m to less than $9m. Virtually nothing from the oil-rich coffers have flowed to members. Band-owned ‘Frog Lake Energy Resources’ has been losing multi-millions since 2015.

CTF lawyer Devin Drover states the obvious “there’s a lack of accountability and financial transparency across a majority of the First Nations.” Great losses took place under the leadership of former chief Clifford Stanley. Frog Lake First Nation leadership don’t reveal their salaries. From 2017-2018, Stanley’s was $104k, plus $151k in ‘travel’, and $61,000 from FLER bringing his salary to over $300k per annum. Public financial reports for Frog Lake First Nation show that the band is short over $120m in net assets over a five-year time period between 2013 and 2018.

Currently in his 4th term as the elected Chief of Frog Lake First Nation, Chief Greg Desjarlais sits on various boards. According to public records on the federal government’s website, the band’s trust fund went from $102m in 2013 to $3m in 2019. Long-term investments dropped by $23m from $50m to $27m in the same period. Chief Greg Desjarlais and his council have never provided a full audit. Experts say Frog Lake should be prosperous. They are loudly cup in hand to government because they simply do not have the funds. Money continuously evaporates into Greg Desjarlais’s ether.

Chief Greg Desjarlais (gregdesjarlais@froglake.ca) leads the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations.

The Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations was created in 1993 with the purpose of serving as the united political advocacy voice for those Treaty Nations who are signatories of Treaty No. 6.

The band council office in Frog Lake First Nation. Chief Greg Desjarlais isn’t talking to the press. “The people in Frog Lake should be really well off. They should be living in mansions in comparison to other bands.”