Summerside group reassures veterans federal funding wasn't taken by former executive director

A Summerside group is doing its best to reassure veterans and their families that federal money it was administering is safe after its former executive director was charged with stealing funds.

Barb Gallant, who is also a Summerside city councillor, is a former executive director of the Lest We Forget Veterans Committee. She was charged by Summerside police in mid-April with theft over $5,000 in connection to the group.

The committee's current president, Nancy Beth Guptill, said she heard concerns from veterans across the country after the news broke.

Guptill said $400,000 the group received from Veterans Affairs Canada in 2022 is still being used to benefit veterans.

"[The funding is] being managed by the East Prince Women's Information Centre, and we have a project evaluator that ensures that we track the money, everything is safe, and we also have an accountant that oversees everything," Guptill said.

Federal Veterans Affairs Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor says she's not privy to details of the case.

She told CBC News she's been reassured none of the federal funding was taken.

"We certainly have followed up with the organization as we wanted to ensure that our money was not the money that was impacted," she told CBC News.

Petitpas Taylor says the department takes this very seriously, and followups will ensure something like this doesn't happen again.

"These are, you know, federal dollars. They're your dollars, and we want to make sure that they're properly invested and those checks and balances are in place," she said.

Separate accounts

Guptill says just $3,000 of the federal money was deposited into the account that is the subject of the charge, and that Gallant had access to. The account also contained funds that had been accumulated through sponsorships and donations.

In all, it should have totalled more than $10,000. Instead, the committee found the account was in overdraft.

Guptill says she can only assume that the $3,000 from the federal funding that went into the account was used for what it was supposed to be used for, establishing a memorial bench. 

"Anything that money was budgeted for, was paid," she said.

'Paid out of their own pockets'

The other money, from donations, was typically used each year in November for wreaths and helping local veterans attend Remembrance Day events. But last year, that didn't happen.

"They paid out of their own pockets," she said. "They were told there was no money for it."

Police say their investigation is now complete. CBC News could not reach Gallant for comment. She is scheduled to appear in provincial court in Summerside on May 29.

Officials with the City of Summerside say no action can be taken under their code of conduct bylaw until the courts have ruled on the case. Meanwhile, Gallant continues to earn her salary as a city councillor — more than $30,000 annually.