Election of two councils fuels fire of infighting at First Nation

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This article was published 20/09/2017 (2408 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Roseau River’s chief says he goes to work every day.

Countering public accusations he doesn’t show up for work, Chief Craig Alexander indicated in a phone interview Thursday the accusations were the latest example of the political infighting that’s plagued the southern Manitoba First Nation for decades. 

“I report to work. I’m at work every day. Not (always) in my office, we’re on the go every day,” Alexander said. 

“It’s a tactic to try and get us to react in a negative way, and we’re not going to respond in those negative ways. We also want the lateral violence to stop in our community. It’s an ongoing issue and we’re going to address it.

“Lateral violence is the bullying, the shaming and the blaming. We don’t need that on our reserve. It’s holding us back.”

Some members of Roseau River Anishinabe First Nation held a press conference Wednesday pleading for the chief to come back to work and mend decades of differences that for years have divided the community of about 2,000, located about five kilometres west of Dominion City.

Councillors, backed by members of the community’s elders’ council said they wanted to solve their differences internally using traditional customs. They called for an end to legal action and said they wanted the band’s lawyers and consultants to be dismissed. 

The chief said he was in meetings with federal officials in Winnipeg that day with the community’s real council.

Duelling elections, election bylaw lead to power struggle

Internal power struggles have been the focus of one court case after another between rival factions dating back years, including the latest elections, where two councils were voted into office in March.

Two related issues are at play in Roseau’s confusing politics: the first is the duelling election results from the spring; the other is related to a new election bylaw that required candidates to file criminal-records checks.

The first council, which made Wednesday’s public appeal, was elected March 9 and didn’t comply with the criminal-records check bylaw in time.

The federal Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada refused to recognize the results, and neither did the courts.

A second election held on March 12 was recognized because it did comply with the new rules. 

The event Wednesday was related to a power struggle with the losing council, Alexander said.

“The council that I’m working with is the (one) that was elected through the March 12 court-ordered election. The March 9 election hasn’t been recognized by either INAC or the courts. That’s why those ‘councillors’ are in an uproar — they haven’t complied with the court order that required criminal-records checks,” Alexander said, adding that he’s not saying the first council had candidates with criminal records, only they didn’t comply with the bylaw.

“It’s not up to me to delve into that kind of information,” he said.

“I report to work. I’m at work every day. Not (always) in my office, we’re on the go every day.”–Chief Craig Alexander

First council supported in referendum

Even after Ottawa recognized the second election, there was more trouble. Two of the councillors, who were also elected the first time, were removed from the second council for failing to file the proper criminal-records checks. A byelection for their seats is scheduled for Oct. 19.

The first council doesn’t care if Ottawa doesn’t recognize its legitimacy, it said in a statement. It says its authority rests with a Sept. 15 community referendum where about 200 community members voted 187-10 to have the first council in power, not the one Alexander is working with.

Members indicated they are not going away.

“What matters is the outcome of the RRAFN community referendum of Sept. 15. The people have spoken and have overwhelmingly chosen to validate the March 9 general election. Nothing else matters,” the first council said in an email statement.

“The federal department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs has no influence or jurisdiction on elections at RRAFN. RRAFN… relies on its own band customs as it relates to elections.”

A letter from the First Nation’s lawyers was circulated Thursday on Roseau River. It reviewed the status of both elections, lawsuits related to them and identified the real council from the pretenders by name.

It also included a reference to the most recent federal court ruling Sept. 5 that concluded any referendum to remove the recognized counsel had no force in law.

The First Nation had 1,768 eligible voters in March. The next election is in March, 2019.

 

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca