Jorge Barrera
APTN National News
Onion Lake Cree Nation Chief Wallace Fox is expected to plead guilty to at least one of several charges stemming from a domestic incident which occurred in the Cree community in May 2015.
Fox has a court date scheduled in Lloydminster, Sask., provincial court on Oct. 20. Sentencing is also expected the same day.
Regional Crown Scott Bartlett told APTN National News on Friday Fox is expected to plead guilty to “one of the counts on the information.”
The information is the court document that outlines charges faced by an accused.
Fox is facing two counts of assault, one count of possession of a weapon for a dangerous purpose related to the use of a knife and one count of uttering threats to damage property.
Fox was charged in October 2015 by the RCMP. The charges stem from a domestic incident which occurred in the community on May 18.
Fox could not be reached for comment.
An Onion Lake band official said Fox would remain chief after his guilty plea.
Onion Lake was one of the sponsors of a national conference in Edmonton on missing and murdered Indigenous women which was held in September 2015.
Fox rose to national prominence during the height of the Idle No More movement. He was one of a handful of chiefs who marched into Centre Block on Parliament Hill in the fall of 2012 demanding an audience with the prime minister.
Fox was one of the leaders who openly challenged former Assembly of First Nations national chief Shawn Atleo during an emotional meeting on the eve of a planned meeting with Stephen Harper on Jan. 11, 2013. Fox demanded Atleo refuse the meeting with the prime minister.
Fox has been the chief of Onion Lake since the 1980s. He was first elected to the band council at age 21 in 1983 and became chief three years later.
Onion Lake is an oil-rich community with about 5,000 band members. It sits about 50 km north of Lloydminster which straddles the Saskatchewan-Alberta border.
@JorgeBarrera
straight talk
Hard to figure him out say’s he is against the degrading, beating, assaulting our women then does the opposite, seen the man change spots many times, lead the charge to remove a chief of the FSIN and now he wants to still be chief after 2 assault charges, criminal, using a knife for a dangerous purpose and uttering threats eh. All criminal, how u going to be chief from the jail eh ?