Scott Eashappie is chief of Carry the Kettle Nakoda Nation in Saskatchewan. Photo: APTN File
A First Nations chief in Saskatchewan says he doesn’t mind paying an $18,000 fine after he was found guilty of contempt of Federal Court.
The penalty was levied Oct. 21 by Federal Court Judge Paul Favel.
Favel found Scott Eashappie and three council members of Carry the Kettle guilty of contempt in January after they ignored his order to hold off deposing and then replacing two newly elected councillors in January 2022.
The judge had instructed chief and council to await the outcome of the judicial reviews filed by Terrina Bellegarde and Joellen Haywahe, who challenged their removals.
Neither woman responded to requests for comment from APTN News, but Haywahe did post the judge’s 21-page decision on her Facebook page.
She noted the chief and councillors had to pay the fines themselves – “not the band.”
In favour
A decision released in May by another Federal Court judge ruled in favour of the deposed councillors.
Justice Guy Régimbald decided chief and council did not have a quorum under the Cega-Kin Nakoda Oyate Custom Election Act to remove Bellegarde and Haywahe and hold a byelection.
And, he said the tribunal required under the act to advise council on removing elected officials was “not properly constituted.”
Further, he declared the election of the replacement councillors “void” and ordered the band to pay the women their full council salaries.
“The court determined the applicants remain elected councillors entitled to all remuneration that would have been payable to them,” Régimbald said.
Pay $18,000
Favel sentenced the chief and three councillors to pay $18,000, and agreed with their suggestion to make the money payable to a program for children in the Nakoda nation about 100 kilometres east of Regina instead of the court.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision and accept following fines payable to the Carry the Kettle First Nation sports and recreation program,” Eashappie said in a statement on his personal Facebook page.
Favel ordered the chief to pay $7,500, Coun. Shawn Spencer $5,000, Coun. Tamara Thomson $5,000 and Coun. Lucy Musqua $500.
“We are hopeful that this decision will be the end of this matter, and that the Nation can move forward together in collaboration,” Eashappie added in his Facebook statement.
He did not reply to a request for comment from APTN.
Boiled down to
Eashappie said the case boiled down to protecting the band’s custom election act, which it uses instead of the federal Indian Act.
He explained in an earlier post that Bellegarde and Haywahe were kicked off council for alleged misconduct for the way they questioned band finances. He said they were removed and replaced in a byelection in keeping with policies set out in the custom act.
“The Court’s decision recognizes the position we are in as Chief and Council of Carry the Kettle First Nation to balance our role in asserting sovereignty over our own election process with operating within the Canadian judicial system,” he said in his Facebook statement.
“The Court further correctly observed that our contempt was not out of self-interest but in the interest of a greater purposing, asserting sovereignty and protecting the application of our Election Act.”
Favel acknowledged the band council had little wiggle room.
Unique circumstances
“The unique circumstances of this situation must be considered as a mitigating as the Respondents were caught in an untenable position to stand up for their sovereign Nation and its laws, or concede to an authority which they reject,” the judge wrote in the decision, a copy of which was obtained by APTN.
“Typical cases of contempt include a true rejection of the judicial system’s authority, usually for reasons related to lack of governability. That is not the case here. The Respondents seek sovereignty and a First Nations-led governance system for their Nation.”
Favel rejected the deposed councillors’ call to throw the chief and councillors behind bars.
“The Court strongly rejected Ms. Bellegarde and Ms. Haywahe’s position that a sentence involving imprisonment was an appropriate penalty, reasoning: There is no circumstance in which imprisonment forms a justifiable and proportionate sentence for the Respondents,” said Eashappie in his post.
The judge also recognized what he and the remaining councillors were trying to do, the chief noted.
Moral culpability
“The Court also found my moral culpability or blameworthiness to be low, recognizing that ‘[t]he Stay Order asks Chief Eashappie to concede that his Nation is subordinate to Canada and the authority of its Courts, despite the existence of an Election Act which ostensibly provided authority for all of the Chief’s actions to date’.”
In the end, Eashappie saw the court decision as a victory.
“I hope this brings clarity to our nation’s members,” he said, “we are here to protect the collective and its ability to create law and develop a better structure that implements a better future for generations to come.
“As chief if we don’t assert our sovereignty in our home lands, no one will do it for us.”
