On December 30, 2012, a spokesperson for the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs stated that by the end of 2012–13, the federal government will have spent $131 million on the Attawapiskat reserve since 2006, including the construction of 60 new and renovated houses and a new school.
The Attawapiskat band council agreed to a comprehensive audit, the results of which are pending review by the Aboriginal Affairs Department and Health Canada.
[9] Attawapiskat had been placed under third party management by the federal government following the state of emergency declared by Spence in 2011.
[10] A 2012 financial audit commissioned by the Government of Canada for the years found a lack of documentation to account for millions of dollars spent by the Attawapiskat Band Council between 2005 and 2011.
Other First Nations leaders, however, were critical of Spence's fiscal mismanagement as indefensible and undermining reserves that followed proper bookkeeping.
Her hunger strike consisted of a liquid diet of lemon water, medicinal teas, and fish broth— a historical survival diet for Indigenous communities facing poverty and food shortages from land loss and colonial policies, according to Anishinaabe scholar Leanne Betasamosake Simpson.
[21] Her protest was intended to focus public attention on First Nations issues, support the Idle No More indigenous rights movement, and highlight concerns about Bill C-45.
[26] Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development John Duncan sent a letter to Spence on December 25, 2012, expressing concern for her health and urging her to end her protest.
[33] A Declaration of Commitment[34] was prepared over the preceding couple of days, which committed federal opposition parties and the AFN to address the critical issues that affected the relationship between First Nations people and the Canadian Government, based on Nation-to-Nation treaties going back to the 18th century.
At the meeting with the chiefs that occurred on January 11, 2013, Prime Minister Harper had already agreed to top-level talks to modernize and implement the ancient treaties that were always intended to bring peace and prosperity to First Nations.