Fort Smith (June 16/03) - Treaty 8 leaders say they will challenge a Federal Court of Appeal ruling that this week struck down a decision that briefly granted tax-free status to almost 30,000 natives in Western Canada.

Archie Cyprien, grand chief of the Treay 8 Council, said that the ruling announced Wednesday "is not a surprise, nor does it make us any less determined" to take the case to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Gordon Benoit, the Mikisew Cree First Nation member who launched the case in 1992, sees the decision as another step in the process.

Benoit's case was based largely on the memories of elders who said federal negotiators promised they would not be taxed if they signed Treaty 8.

The treaty makes no reference to taxation but in a note appended to the document, David Liard, chief negotiator for Canada, wrote that "we assured them that the treaty did not open the way to the imposition of any tax."

The treaty turned over parts of the Northwest Territories, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia to the government of Canada and opened the land to development.

The lengthy trial heard evidence from three elders were not present when the treaty was signed but relied on what they had heard from others.

In its unanimous decision, the three-member appeal court panel wrote that trial Judge Douglas Campbell gave "preferential treatment to oral history" and failed to "assess critically the evidence of the three witnesses." They found "nothing on the record which can reasonably support the conclusion" reached by Judge Campbell, the appeal court judges wrote. Archie Waquan, chief of the Mikisew Cree First Nation, pointed out that "the people who are against us are also part of the treaty."

Tax laws do not apply to natives living on reserves, but they are required to pay taxes if they live off reserve.

The federal government estimated the potential cost of the ruling at $5 million for the members of Treaty 8, but said it could mount to $8 billion if it was applied to all natives living off reserve.