Fort Liard (Oct 22/04) - Dolphus Codille says he was a director on the Acho Dene Koe (ADK) board, before he was unceremoniously ousted last week when he raised a sensitive issue.

Chief Floyd Bertrand, who is the board's vice-president, countered that Codille was never officially a member of the board in the first place. He added the band council is holding off on appointing directors because it is undertaking a review of the board.

"There's all these concerns coming up in regards to this board, so the council said we'll do a review on it," Bertrand explained, adding that board meetings and band council meetings are open to band members.

Codille said Bertrand and ADK board president Guy Berreault told him in early September he was welcome to become a director on what is commonly known as the Beaver Enterprises board.

He said he agreed and he attended three board meetings. He also travelled to Fort Nelson, B.C., for an oil and gas conference -- his expenses were paid and he received compensation from Beaver Enterprises. He wasn't on Beaver's payroll, so the remuneration was clearly for his role as a board member, he said.

Then, at a board meeting on Oct. 14, Codille said he requested that policy violations and misconduct by board members be raised at an in-camera session at the next meeting. The following day, he said he received a letter from Bertrand stating his seat would remain vacant until band council reviews the current ADK board. The correspondence is dated Oct. 5, nine days before the last board meeting he attended.

Codille is puzzled as to why, if he wasn't a director, nobody said a word to him at any of the board meetings.

"Even the chief was sitting at the meeting. Why didn't he tell me that?" he asked. "How come the finance department didn't tell me, and why did they pay me? Something strange is going on."

Only being pursued

Bertrand said band council passed a motion to pursue Codille as a board member, but a resolution to formally name him a director was never ratified. He admitted the letter was late in arriving, saying it was misplaced and wasn't mailed on Oct. 5 as it should have.

Earlier this month, Jim Duntra said his removal from the board in May was without justification. As well, Jimmy Deneron reflected on his resignation from the board in August because he was uncomfortable with a few developments, including the chief and a band councillor installing themselves on the board.

Bertrand said it's impossible to separate business and politics. As an example, he said if the Beaver Enterprises board wanted to approve a development, the permits would be issued through the Mackenzie Land and Water Board.