The internal dispute with the Ts'il Kaz Koh First Nation has now gone to court.
The aboriginal government formerly known as the Burns Lake Band has had an ideological split among its three elected councillors. Chief Albert Gerow and councillor Dan George are in a confrontation with councillor Ron Charlie.
Charlie claims he is being ostracized from council duties while the duo claim he has shirked his duties and has simply not involved himself.
The dispute led to Charlie and his supporters occupying the Ts'il Kaz Koh band offices in Burns Lake until a contingent of RCMP eventually came in to restore typical operations.
"I have served them (with a Notice of Application to the federal court) on May 3," Charlie told The Citizen on Friday.
Chief Gerow was not available by deadline, following the conversation with Charlie.
"I haven't heard nothing from chief Albert nor councillor George. It is still early," Charlie said, then refused to answer any further questions about who his lawyer might be or if any support of any kind was being provided by Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada (AANDC).
"Once this progresses you will learn more about it," he said.
A written statement issued on Charlie's behalf said, "Charlie has unsuccessfully been able to have his council disclose information to himself and the community including their own source revenues and suspected agreements with oil and gas pipelines. The grassroots community and the broader Wet'suwet'en peoples and hereditary chiefs - to which Burns Lake Band is traditionally connected through hereditary governance, kinship, and law - has officially stated their opposition to all pipelines in their traditional territories, in particular the Enbridge Northern Gateway and Pacific Trails pipelines and any others that are attempting to access their traditional territories that stretch from Burns Lake to Hazelton."
Earlier in the dispute, Charlie and his supporters worried that Gerow and George had signed secret deals with industrial companies to do work outside the wishes of the general Ts'il Kaz Koh public. Charlie contended that these deals were without his presence or knowledge and wondered how they could proceed as two when three are required for council quorum.
They argued that in fact only two elected officials were required for decision-making.
"The Burns Lake Band consists of three council members. AANDC has stated that all three councillors are required for quorum to make any decisions. In consequence, any contracts and agreements made by George and Gerow are null and void. However, government and industries are likely unaware of these policies and are proceeding with business as usual," said Charlie's written statement.
Charlie refused to disclose what supporting documentation existed within AANDC policy or Ts'il Kaz Koh policy that stipulated the quorum number.
