The Niagara Regional Native Centre’s board of directors is facing new allegations of intimidation, mistreatment and financial misconduct, as former staff and past leaders say programs have been disrupted, employees feel silenced and almost $25,000 in payments were issued to board members this year.
Those who worked at and relied on the centre say a culture of fear has replaced the safe space once meant to support Indigenous community members and families.
Former board president Sean Vanderklis said at least 37 of about 50 staff members have quit, been fired or gone on leave, leaving programs vacant and straining the centre’s relationship with funders. The Lake Report has not independently verified these staff numbers.
“All the community comes to me and speaks to me. A lot of staff come to me,” he told The Lake Report.
“Staff are fearful of their jobs.”
Community members held a small protest on Sept. 11 that drew three police officers. Protesters said it followed an unannounced board meeting that day, where staff were sent home. The Lake Report has asked the board to confirm its account of the meeting.
The Lake Report contacted all current board members, outlining the allegations and requesting comment. This included president Tammi Givans, vice-president Bobbi Jones Japp, treasurer Wendy Wilson and directors Lacey Lewis and Wandra Griffin.
Roxanne Buck, who Vanderklis said was allegedly removed from her role of director at a Sept. 7 special members meeting, was also contacted.
As of press time, no board members replied or provided a phone number for comment.
Board accused of stalling annual meeting
After board members Jones Japp, Wilson, Lewis and Griffin resigned in February 2023 amid allegations of abusing their powers, they were reinstated late last year — Justice Leanne Standryk from the Ontario Superior Court ruled the board’s previous resignation invalid due to “governance irregularities”
That restored its authority until the next annual general meeting, which Vanderklis said was supposed to be held by Sept. 30 — the required date, he said, following the end of the fiscal year — but wasn’t, preventing members from voting or reviewing the centre’s finances, he said.
Sandy Crawford, former reintegration co-ordinator for the centre’s Indigenous community justice program, alleges the board is aiming to push the meeting back so they are able to stay on longer.
Crawford, who went to the protest, claimed she was denied membership at the centre after being laid off in April, despite seven years of work.
An email sent to Crawford from Givans on Sept. 2 says the centre was unable to ratify her membership, due to “a question of eligibility” and needing time to review the relevant bylaw because of this, which it was unable to do before the end of a meeting because of an emergency.
“We will be reviewing your application next regularly (board of directors) meeting as we cannot get quorum prior to the special members meeting this week,” the email says.
When Vanderklis was president, he said the board would normally announce the results of special members meetings on social media, congratulating new board members and thanking former ones.
“But that never happened,” he said.
Vanderklis resigned earlier this year, citing “harassment given to us by the court-appointed board members.”
He is now a community member — not a voting member of the organization. The centre distinguishes between board, staff, formal members who carry governance responsibilities, clients enrolled in programs and broader community members who take part in events.
He found out Buck was removed because several members who attended the meeting claimed so, he said, though he would not identify them. The Lake Report has asked Buck to confirm if this is true.
Staff allegedly urged community to speak up amid fear of retaliation
Vanderklis said community members organized a protest on Sept. 11 after staff asked them to speak out, though no employees took part.
“I know staff have reached out and said, ‘Don’t say that,’” he said from the protest grounds. Staff told him they were threatened with dismissal if they stayed at the protest, said Vanderklis, but he declined to name them.
“Anytime I’m here, it’s a risk to my financial well-being, my mental health,” he said, alleging board members previously contacted his employer with false accusations to undermine him.
He also alleged the Sept. 11 board meeting was held without notice: “You’re allowed to come in, but you’re not allowed to have these arbitrary meetings.”
In the small protest crowd was long-time member Josephine Lavalley, who said she has been involved with the centre, on and off, for 34 years.
She said she supports peaceful protest but not bullying or intimidation, and that both staff and board members deserve to feel safe.
“I’m really sad that we’re at this point right now,” she said.
Crawford details bullying and wrongful termination
Crawford said she filed a formal complaint in 2019 after what she called bullying by then-staff member Jones Japp, who is now vice-president on the board.
“Making fun of me because of my weight, by the way I look, everything like that,” she said. “The snotty looks and the eye rolls.”
She said she was laid off as of March 31, even though, she alleges, her contract listed Sept. 1 as the renewal or non-renewal date.
She shared a voice recording of what she said was a March 28 meeting with Roxanne Buck, which was set to address her concerns regarding what she believes was a forged copy of her signature on a contract — a concern she says she repeatedly, unsuccessfully tried to broach with the centre since December.
In the audio, Buck can be heard telling her that because the Niagara Regional Native Centre is not her employer, and rather the “host” of her employment, she needs to take up her concerns with her employer, the Hamilton Regional Indian Centre’s Apatisiwin program.
Buck states that Crawford’s contract ends March 31 and that she will not be kept on at the Native Centre due to a lack of funding.
“After March 31, there are no funds available to pay you,” Buck can be heard saying.
In the meeting audio, Crawford can be heard expressing that her biggest concern is that the centre was not investigating the alleged forging of the document by its employees.
“I expressed my concern about these contracts because nobody has even taken the time for me throughout the entire year,” she said. “We haven’t had a manager or a supervisor or anybody sit in this office for more than two hours.”
At the end of the meeting, Crawford is asked to leave her keys and belongings at the centre.
Vanderklis questions board payments
Vanderklis provided copies of three cheques totalling almost $25,000 issued in May to board members Lewis, Wilson and Griffin. The cheques, drawn from the centre’s account, list no purpose.
Vanderklis alleges these payments were not authorized by the board’s bylaws.
“I think they’re trying to say that the legal fees, that was capped at $80,000, wasn’t paid out in full by our insurance company,” he said, adding that his insurance provider told him the company had paid those fees directly to the board’s lawyer.
One cheque for $15,349.23, made out to Lacey Lewis, appears to have been deposited into a Scotiabank account in Niagara Falls. Another, for $7,041.78, is made out to Wendy Wilson and signed by an unverified signatory. The third, for $2,000, is made out Wanda Griffin.
Vanderklis says all these cheques, which add up to $24,391, were cashed, but The Lake Report has been unable to confirm if all three were deposited. Neither Lewis, Wilson, Griffin, nor Buck (who signed the front of all three cheques) would comment on the allegations related to these cheques.
“I’ve written a formal letter to the (Canada Revenue Agency’s) charities directorate,” Vanderklis said, noting bylaws prohibit board members from receiving remuneration. “The law is very clear.”
Staff say families are suffering as programs decline
Crawford said the centre cannot fulfill its role of healing the community if staff themselves are mistreated and struggling — a concern Vanderklis shares, saying it is affecting programs and funding opportunities.
“How can we support our community when we’re dying inside?” said Crawford. “My biggest fear is the suicide spikes will rise and a major mental health crisis.”
Former staff member Alysia Sandherr, who went on medical leave this spring, said the board “wouldn’t even look at you when you’re trying to talk to them about what’s going on.”
She expects to extend her leave past October. “Unless things change,” she said, adding she left mostly because of “the stress, being overworked, all of the drama and being scared to speak up.”
Funding initially approved to support her 16-year-old son’s school trip was later withdrawn “once I went on leave,” she said, forcing her to take out loans.
Sandherr said she has since been hospitalized three times in 28 days for mental health crises and is now on daily medication and in therapy. Relatives cared for her three children and a friend of her daughter who had been living with them.
Crawford, a single mother of two who moved to the area 12 years ago and came to see the centre as her family, said the loss of income has left her at risk of homelessness each month.
Plus, no longer being at the centre has taken away the cultural lifeline she and her children once had, and “a big part of my heart and my soul,” she added.
“‘Do I want to continue my culture? asked Crawford. “When we’re all feeling unsafe?’”
Her children refuse to set foot on the property, she said — a feeling shared by Sandherr’s children, who also no longer attend due to being uncomfortable.
“We don’t have anywhere that we can go,” said Sandherr.
