Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Jun 13/01) - A lawsuit against the North Slave Metis Alliance that has been moving at a snail's pace for more than three years is finally forging ahead.
Judge J.E. Richard ruled Friday that a lawsuit filed against the alliance by Bill Enge will now proceed to case management. Richard made the ruling after hearing submissions from lawyers representing the alliance and Enge, the last president of the now-defunct Metis Nation of the NWT. Enge is pursuing the suit on behalf of 87 individuals who claim the alliance expelled their membership in 1998.
Case management is a streamlining procedure created under the rules of court to speed a case along to trial or allow for a settlement.
Austin Marshall, acting on behalf of the North Slave Metis Alliance, argued he should be allowed to file an application for security of costs for the case. The procedure means that everyone Enge is representing would have to put up some kind of cash or collateral to ensure they can afford to pay costs should they lose.
He added that many of the persons Enge claims to represent do not live in the NWT, and that Enge's suit had "minimal, if any substance."
Enge's lawyer, Sarah Kay, said that regardless of where the people lived, "the issue still will not be going away."
In the end, Richard decided to "make both sides happy" by granting case management to the plaintiffs, and making the first order of business the defence application for security of costs.
Outside the courthouse, Enge said Judge Richards' ruling was "another victory" for his side.
Marshall said he expects that some of the people represented by Enge in the suit will drop out when they realize they might have to pay costs if they lose.
"They'll have to put money or security up, which is fair because we will be put to a great deal of time and expense," said Marshall.
A judge will now be appointed to manage the case. The two sides will meet again in court July 13.
