Judge boots Alberta First Nation chief and council from office

Jamie Komarnicki, Postmedia NewsJune 23, 2011
 CALGARY -- The chief and council of an embattled southern Alberta First Nation have been ordered removed from office by a federal court judge.  Chief David Bearspaw and four band councillors shouldn't have cancelled a December 2010 election and extended their own terms in office, wrote Judge Richard Mosley in a 40-page decision released Thursday.  The native leaders are "prohibited from continuing to hold office pending an election and enjoined from exercising the powers of those offices," Mosley wrote.  The First Nation has been instructed to hold an election within 60 days.  The case saw six community members face off against the chief and council of the 1,700 member Bearspaw band.  Disgruntled band members argued that their democratic rights were trampled when the chief and councillors cancelled the scheduled 2010 vote and lengthened their own terms in office from two to four years.  A $320,000 survey used to justify the extended terms, Mosley wrote, was "flawed," and the questionnaire, "confusing and conflicted."  Considering the level of participation in the survey, less than 29.5 per cent of electors supported the chief's election term extension, he wrote.  "The decision to ignore those results was not in accordance with [Bearspaw First Nation] custom but a blatant disregard for traditional values and a contrived justification to remain in power." Mosley noted there was no notice to off reserve members and no public meeting about the election decision.