Court ruling puts more scrutiny on Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation enrolment process

Six applicants to Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation should be reinstated on the band's membership list pending a determination of the validity of a supplemental agreement that affected the enrolment process, according to a recent Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court decision.

The decision by Supreme CourtJustice Gillian D. Butlerleaned in the direction of the plaintiffs, Shawn Benoit, Matthew Anderson, Bobbie Tapp Goosney, Paul Bennett, Jennifer Sur Le Roux, and Marie Melanson, but stopped short of directly affecting the much-debated Qalipuenrolment process.

Justice Butler's decision, a declaration directed at Canada and Qaliputo accept the sixas originalfounding members of Qalipu, was welcomed by plantiffMarie Melanson.

"It was uplifting. It gave me some hope," said Melanson.

"I have faith that this process will clear this up and right a wrong,because this is wrong."

Melanson and the other fiveplaintiffshad been amongthe 10,500 membersof the Federation of Newfoundland Indians (FNI)when it voted to signan agreement-in-principle with Canada, effectively creating Qalipu Mi'kmaq First Nation.As the band began to take shape, they were all added to Qalipu'sfirst founding members list.

Supplemental agreement's validity questioned

Butwhen Qalipuenacted the supplemental agreement on enrolment in 2013, they were all removed from the list,stripping them of their Indian status. Their appeals were denied.

St. John's lawyerKeith Morganargued on the six applicants' behalfthat the FNIdidn't havethe corporate authority to sign the supplemental agreement, because the decision was not put to a vote.

Morgan's case was based on the result of the FNI'sannual general assembly in October2009where a resolution, passed by a majority of those in attendance, changed the organization'scorporate structure.

"They never anticipated that there'd be a supplemental agreement in 2013," said Morgan.

"So therefore they stripped down their membership to have a lean governance structure so they could simplyshepherd the [agreement creating Qalipu] through to its conclusion."

Morgan argued that decisionto sign the supplemental agreement should have been carried out the same way the FNIdecided to sign the agreement with Canada creating Qalipuunder corporate law.

In her ruling, Justice Butler agreed,stating that the six plaintiffs had the right to "question the legitimacy of actionsof the FNI."

Her decision said that until the validityof the supplemental agreement is determined by Qalipuand Canada(through ongoing court cases and subsequent measures)the sixplaintiffs should be reinstated on the founding members list and that the FNI must take all steps necessary to see that they remain on it.

Morgan said a question still stands as to whether or not the rest of 10,500 FNImembers could see the same thing.

New founding members list expected soon

The courtdocuments containing Butler's decision saida new Order in Council was expected to address a new founding members list on June 25, butCrown-Indigenous Affairs Relations and Northern Affairs Canada did not respond to CBC's requests for information.

Requests for updates on the enrolment processwere not returned by QalipuChiefBrendan Mitchell.

MarieMelansonsaid despite some lingering uncertainty about what comes next for the Qalipu, the recent decision has offered the plaintiffs some relief.

"Itwill make us feel likepart of the community," she said.

"We'll be sharing and learning and participating in our heritage to make our nation proud."