The injunction papers. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski
Missinippi Broadcasting has obtained a copy of a controversial injunction filed by Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation’s former urban councillor.
The federal court order was granted to Warren Scott McCallum to prevent last week’s scheduled byelection for his replacement.
McCallum’s application for an injunction alleges that there were not enough signatures on the petition that prompted the December decision to remove him. Twenty five per cent of the urban membership needs to have signed that petition, according to cites the PBCN Election Code of 2014.
The December 10, 2015 decision was made by the PBCN Council of Elders.
The February 3 court order by Ottawa-based Federal Court Justice George R. Locke ruled that McCallum’s allegations are neither frivolous nor vexatious.
Locke wrote that confusion could ensue if McCallum’s application for reinstatement is successful, but his successor already taken over as urban councillor.
Related to the possibility of McCallum being reinstated, Locke wrote “in that event, the applicant would suffer an irreparable loss of the prestige that accompanies the position of councillor which could not be compensated in damages.”
Locke repeatedly cites the PBCN Election Code of 2014, and makes an interpretation based on that Code.
He says the code provides a minimum time period before a byelection can be held, but doesn’t have a maximum period of time. That fact “suggest that it is considered more important that a byelection be don’ correctly than quickly,” Locke wrote.
He acknowledges there are likely negative consequences to having a vacant urban councillor position for a long period of time, but added that “the respondents have provided no evidence of inconvenience in the event that the requested injunction is granted.”
Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and its council of elders are named in the Federal Court injunction.
In an e-mailed statement, McCallum maintained his innocence of many of the allegations laid out in the petition. He wrote:
(1) I feel that I have used accounting practices that are more than accountable and transparent
(2) I am available to the membership.
(3) And I have never mismanaged band funds.
And that’s all I want to say at this time.
I am happy that I obtained an injunction and I want to thank my family and my supporters for encouraging me through this whole process.