Concerns about the management at Wasaya Airways being expressed by former President and CEO
Message from Chief Bart Meekis, Chair Wasaya Group Inc Board
20 August 2013 By James Murray
THUNDER BAY - The Wasaya Group wishes to inform our membership, our employees and our customers of some recent changes in our leadership.
The Board of Directors of Wasaya Group Inc. would like to acknowledge the retirement of Tom Kamenawatamin from the role of President and CEO of WGI. We thank him for his many years of service and wish him well in his retirement.
MaryEllen Thomas, a long-time WGI employee acted as President / CEO after Tom Kamenawatamin's retirement. She has now left the Wasaya Group and we thank her for her eleven years of service.
The Board of Directors have appointed Tom Morris to act as the President and CEO of Wasaya Group Inc. on an interim basis in addition to his continuing role as President and CEO of Wasaya Airways LP. Tom Morris has been the President and CEO of Wasaya Airways LP for the past 12 years and has demonstrated a good understanding and working relationship with all of the Wasaya Group of Companies.
All operations will continue as normal during this transition.
The Chiefs of the owner First Nations are overseeing this transition to ensure that the needs of our community members, our customers and our employees remain our priority. We, the Wasaya Chiefs believe in the bright future of our companies, and are committed to make that happen.
Please direct any inquiries about our businesses to Tom Morris, CEO of Wasaya Airways Limited Partnership and Acting CEO of Wasaya Group Inc. at 807-473-1200
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Wasaya Experiencing Air Turbulence?
17 August 2013 - By NNL Staff
Wayasa Airways provide a vital connection to remote northern communities, and profits that should help people in the member communities.
Wasaya Airways - Former CEO Says Bad Decisions and Mismanagement Hurt Communities
THUNDER BAY - Former Wasaya Group Inc. CEO and President Tom Kam states, "The bad decisions and mismanagement by Wasaya Airways LP (WALP) senior management that have come to light is a very serious concern to me. The abuse of company credit cards and company credit policies have resulted in a loss of profit for my community for the fiscal year".
"This allegation can be proven by professional accountants. These allegations will need to be investigated by proper authorities," continued Kam.
"Recent developments are that the Wasaya Chiefs have removed the Board of Directors, and have placed themselves as the new Board. The shareholders (Chiefs) have a right to do that".
"But proper legal advice should have been provided to them before they made this move," comments Kam. "What this means for my community is that Bearskin Lake Band now has a potential liability with WALP's Statutory Obligations, and there are many".
The developing issue could be damaging to the company's reputation.
"Band operated businesses have a high rate of failure, and to my knowledge, none of the Chiefs have ever operated a multi-million dollar business", states Kam. "So I expect the businesses will suffer, and the concern here for my community is the millions they have invested into Wasaya will be lost".
"The banking institutions, major clients, suppliers, and customers, etc. will have questions and concerns, we will continue to lose contracts as is what is happening with WALP. We will continue to lose contracts under present senior management until we have nothing to work with".
Kam is very concerned over the potential damage to the company over the long-term.
"The Chiefs have lost the focus of our Elders' vision. The vision to bring benefits and profits to our communities, more specifically, the community low income, and social recipient members are being compromised."
"The high overhead costs of bad decisions and mis-management of the senior managers is now the burden of our community members and clients, the very people WALP was supposed to help, we pay in a form of high fares and high freight rates".
The value of a dollar in Thunder Bay is not the same in Bearskin Lake; it is worth only about $0.45 cents.
Kam concludes, "The Wasaya Group of Companies is not structured to produce revenues and profits. The Wasaya businesses such as WALP are structured to produce profits for our communities, as per their six figure contracts, in the estimated amount of $1.0 million annually for five senior managers. The communities have yet to enjoy their profits and benefits".
As the former Wasaya Group Inc. CEO and President, Kam states, "The last major move that the Chiefs have done is a removal of Acting CEO of WGI, an indication that there is a cover-up by the Chiefs and senior management of Wasaya Airways LP. This is not a smart move, and could be detrimental to Wasaya as a whole group".
"This is not good for our communities and specially the staff of Wasaya. Wasaya Chiefs and their legal adviser are not aviation experts, so I feel this is a wrong move," concluded Kam.