Christie Asked By MNS To Oversee Lawsuit

Christie Asked By MNS To Oversee Lawsuit

Monday, May 02, 2005 at 14:32

The Metis Nation of Saskatchewan is hoping high-profile civil rights lawyer Doug Christie will agree to take over its lawsuit against the provincial government.

Christie has most recently defended former Aboriginal leader David Ahenakew in his hate crime trial.

The MNS filed a defamation lawsuit against the province last fall shortly after the government released the Lampard report on last year’s Metis election.

MNS president Dwayne Roth was hoping to represent the organization in court on a pro bono basis, but says he has fallen on hard times financially.

Roth says because of the damage that was done to his reputation, as well as the fact that various levels of government have frozen funding to the MNS, he has been unable to pay his fees to the Law Society of Saskatchewan this year — making him ineligible to practice law.

Roth says several individuals have added their names as plaintiffs to the lawsuit, including himself.

He also says the suit was originally seeking $410,000 in damages, but that will likely be boosted to $2 million to account for all the negative repercussions MNS officials have encountered since the release of the report.