Snowdrift (Apr 18/05) - Lawyers for ousted Chief Archie Catholique obtained an injunction last week, stopping an election for chief set for the next day, April 13.

In granting the injunction, Justice Douglas Campbell of the Federal Court of Canada ordered a full hearing on May 12 in Edmonton.

Ousted Chief Archie Catholique of the Lutsel K'e Dene Band obtained an injunction stopping an April 13 election for a new chief.

"I am disappointed it had to go through the courts, but I am happy there's a court injunction," Catholique said.

The dispute goes back to late January when Catholique and his council were ousted.

Since then, Catholique has maintained he is still chief, arguing his ouster didn't follow the band's election code and he didn't do anything to deserve removal.

Garth Wallbridge, one of Catholique's lawyers, said the election code states chiefs can be removed for drinking, a conviction for an indictable offence, or through a vote of non-confidence.

However, Wallbridge said the code states the band council, not a membership meeting, must pass the non-confidence motion.

"The people against the chief got the process wrong," the lawyer said.

Acting Chief Albert Boucher explains things differently. Boucher said the membership voted to remove Catholique and the previous council before it was dismissed by the membership.

"When you're fired, you're fired," he said through an interpreter. "He was voted out."

The process followed the election code, Boucher argued. "To us, that was the end of his term."

The acting chief said the community never expected Catholique to take the issue to court.

"The elders in the community are very disappointed," he said.

"It could have been solved without a court case."

Steven Nitah, a former MLA and band councillor, now on contract to help the band deal with the injunction and the media, said a new election has been set for May 13.

Nitah said the community decided to delay the April 13 vote out of respect for the court and to give its lawyers a chance to argue their case.

However, he noted the community is bothered the Federal Court doesn't seem to recognize that Lutsel K'e First Nation, as an aboriginal people, has the right to self-government. "The court injunction is interfering with that right."

Catholique said the few people who oppose him have disrupted the entire community.

"It's not about the job that I do," he said. "It's personal jealousy that they have against me."

However, Boucher said Catholique never listened to people, and just wanted to do things his way.

When nominations closed for the cancelled April 13 election, Nitah and former chief Felix Lockhart had put their names forward.

Nitah said those nominations are now void.