Tlicho ex-chiefs' lawsuit dismissed

Three former chiefs who challenged the Tlicho government's leadershiphave lost another legal battle, after the N.W.T. Court of Appeal dismissed their lawsuit this week.

The case dates back to 2008, when the Tlicho assembly passed a law suspending the chiefs' executive committee, the aboriginal government's equivalent to a cabinet.

The committee was suspended after then-chiefs Charlie Nitsiza, Leon Lafferty and Henry Gon demanded the resignation of George Mackenzie, who was then Tlicho grand chief, in 2007.

The dissenting community chiefs, who then held a majority on the executive committee, filed a lawsuit last year saying the suspension of the committee violated the Tlicho constitution.

Committee reinstated

In a written decision released Tuesday, the court of appeal dismissed the chiefs' argument before hearing it, saying the dispute does not matter anymore because the chiefs' executive committee was reinstated after last year's Tlicho chief and council elections.

All the key players in the lawsuit are no longer in office: Nitsiza, Lafferty and Gon lost their re-election bids last year, as did Mackenzie.

Current Tlicho officials say they hope the appeals court decision will put the three-year-old leadership dispute behind them.

"This case has been dragging on into this new term of government, so I think putting that aside and getting on with what they really want to do, I think, might be a relief," said John B. Zoe, a senior Tlicho government advisor.

Tlicho move unconstitutional: ex-chief

But Lafferty, the former chief who spearheaded the case, said all the Tlicho government has done is prevent the lawsuit from being heard.

"All they've been able to do is stop the court from exposing the unconstitutional law that they passed," Lafferty said.

Lafferty said he believes the N.W.T. courts are afraid of being seen to interfere with the fledgling Tlicho government, which in 2005 was the first aboriginal government to be established in the territory.

"If this is the first indication of what justice in the Northwest Territories is going to do when it comes to self-government, then I don't have any faith in them," he said.

Lafferty said he has to speak with his lawyer before deciding on what other steps, if any, to take.