Troubled Ontario reserve’s former co-manager facing fraud and theft charges

ATTAWAPISKAT, Ont. – The former co-manager of the troubled northern Ontario reserve of Attawapiskat is facing fraud and theft charges.

Police say Clayton Kennedy, who is also the romantic partner of the band’s high-profile chief Theresa Spence, has been charged with fraud over $5,000 and theft over $5,000.

The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service says an investigation carried out in February last year into a complaint about a fraud committed in Attawapiskat led to the charges.

The 62-year-old Kennedy is currently the co-manager of the Taykwa Tagamou Nation in Cochrane, Ont., south of Attawapiskat.

He was Attawapiskat’s director of finance, co-manager and band manager between 2001 and 2004.

He returned as the band’s co-manager and director of finance in July 2010 before leaving the job two years later.

In 2011, Attawapiskat became a flashpoint for relations between the federal government and First Nations after a housing crisis on the reserve triggered a state of emergency.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper accused the band of mismanaging finances and Spence staged a six-week hunger protest over living conditions on reserves and treaty issues, sparking nationwide demonstrations.