Chief Karen Bird. (Brandy Bloxom Photography)

By Susan McNeil

Politics

Court says PBCN chief removal attempt was unfair, Elder Council breached code

Feb 17, 2023 | 12:13 PM

Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation’s Chief Karen Bird has been backed by a federal court judge in her stance that an attempt to remove her as chief was unfair and breached the band’s election code.

Madame Justice McDonald released her decision on the matter to the public on Thursday, detailing that PBCN did not give Bird enough advance notice during the process.

“Fairness required that she know the full nature of the specific allegations or complaint made against her and that she be provided with an opportunity to make a full response,” wrote McDonald in her decision.

A failure to notify Bird that the Elder’s Council was even considering her removal was compounded by a second failure; not having a petition that included the names of 15 per cent of the electorate.

Bird said when she asked to see the removal letter and then requested a copy of the document, she was denied.

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“The refusal of the PBCN Council of Elders to initially allow the Applicant to see the letter, and then to refuse to allow the Applicant to have a copy of the letter, further breached her right to know the case being made against her,” said McDonald.

McDonald did not buy the suggestion of the Council and the Elder that by attending two meetings of the Council of Elders, Bird had received enough notice and had a sufficient chance to respond.

“Overall, and considering that the removal of a Chief attracts a heightened level of procedural fairness, the Applicant’s right to know the case against her was not respected. The Applicant was not given prior or proper notice of the written complaint made against her, nor was she given notice that the complaint would be addressed at either the February 8, 2022 meeting or the April 14, 2022 meeting with the PBCN Council of Elders,” McDonald wrote.

The meetings either did not meet the fairness criteria or showed that the decision to try to remove her was already made, the judge wrote.

Bird should have been given enough advance notice so that she could properly respond to any allegations made and also look for guidance or legal advice.

Bird was elected in April 2021 but an issue arose in early December when she did not attend a council meeting. She said she was never told about the meeting and that if she had been, she was busy following the sudden death of her brother and at another meeting.

During that meeting, several band council resolutions (BCR) were passed that overturned BCRs from a previous meeting she had chaired in September. A verbal conflict with another councillor was cited in the letter from the Elder Council that sought to remove her as chief.

The other two meetings in question happened several months later.

Bird turned to the legal system and was successful in having a planned by-election stopped along with her removal as chief pending a decision on her application for a judicial review.

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panews@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @princealbertnow