Paul Bickford
Northern News Services

Fort Smith (Oct 28/02) - The Salt River First Nation power struggle appears headed for a final showdown early next week.

Raymond Beaver, who was named interim chief when the band council voted to oust Chief Victor Marie on Oct. 9, has called a general membership meeting for Sunday.

"The purpose of the meeting is to get a replacement for the former chief," explains Beaver.

Marie, who claims he is still the legitimate chief, plans to attend the Nov. 3 meeting, even though he doesn't recognize it as official.

"I'm the target. I've got to be there," he says, adding that, if band members don't show up to support him, the council may succeed in throwing him out of office.

Marie expects the membership meeting will be a heated affair.

"They're always heated."

And both he and Beaver expect the membership will finally settle the issue.

Beaver says Marie ceased to be chief as of Oct. 9.

"He doesn't seem to realize that."

Beaver says, if Marie is elected again as chief at the upcoming meeting, he will face the same council which voted against him.

"So is he further ahead?"

Marie, who was elected chief Aug. 30, says he has done what he thought was right in his brief time in office. ""If they throw me out, I can still hold my head up high."

Beaver notes the membership meeting was originally set for Nov. 27, but council decided the leadership issue should be settled earlier.

On Oct. 18, Beaver also announced the closure of the main office of the SRFN until Nov. 3, pointing to an unhealthy workplace caused by the political struggle.

"Currently, the working environment has been less than pleasant and personal attacks from members regarding employee tenure and competency have been said in malice," Beaver wrote in a notice to office staff.

Beaver advised the staff they could have two weeks off with pay.

DIAND declines to step in

However, Marie says closing the office is not in the best interests of band members, and he has continued to work.

The Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development has declined to step into the dispute, although it has warned it might assume control of the band's finances.

In an Oct. 18 letter to the chief and council, Bob Overvold, DIAND's regional director general for the NWT, explained the department does not have any jurisdiction in the leadership question, because SRFN election procedures operate according to custom, not the Indian Act.

"It is departmental policy that custom election disputes (including disputes regarding removal) are internal matters, to be resolved among the chief, the council and band members themselves."

However, he noted DIAND is obligated to protect the delivery of publicly financed programs and services. "Accordingly, if the dispute is not resolved within a reasonable time, the department will consider terminating any existing agreements with the Salt River First Nation and hiring a third-party manager to manage the funds on behalf of community members who have a right to access these programs and services."

Marie says he has requested assistance from DIAND several times, noting he has no council, no administrator and no financial officer.

Both Marie and Beaver agree that, if DIAND does become involved, it would not affect the band's $83-million treaty land entitlement settlement.

"They can't touch that," says Marie.

Meanwhile, the band's legal counsel - Ackroyd, Piasta, Roth and Day of Edmonton - has advised it cannot make a legal judgement on the council resolution to remove Marie because there are no regulations and procedures in place for governing the band.

And last week, the band power struggle entered a new phase - the battle of the locks.

On Wednesday evening, Beaver and a couple of councillors went to the band office for a meeting, but found the locks had been changed (which Marie had done a week before).

They entered the building anyway, and replaced the locks with some of their own.

When Marie arrived at the office the next morning, he says, "I had to break in to come to work."

Then he changed the locks again. Both sides talked to the RCMP about the incidents, and were told that all band members have equal access to the office. Beaver says the RCMP sergeant advised him not to go broke buying locks.

As for Marie, he quipped, "It's getting strange down here, and it's not even Halloween yet."