{"id":86658,"date":"2024-11-04T17:10:56","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T22:10:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=86658"},"modified":"2024-11-04T17:10:56","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T22:10:56","slug":"brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/04\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\/","title":{"rendered":"BRFN: Ousted Chief&#8217;s counsel disputes removal, alleges council errors"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. \u2014 Legal counsel representing four Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN) councillors has alleged that ousted BRFN Chief Judy Desjarlais has overstepped her boundaries. Desjarlais posted a series of letters to Facebook on October 28th, with lawyer Naz Mitha, the counsel representing BRFN, pointing out an apparent series of violations. BRFN said an investigation concluded Desjarlais violated the First Nations\u2019 bylaws, and she was removed in late September. Mitha claims a binder containing Band Council Resolutions, among other items, is missing. \u201cWhile Ms. Desjarlais is challenging her removal, I anticipate that you will accept that,\u201d said Mitha in the letter dated Friday, October 25th. \u201cUntil a court says otherwise, she is no longer Chief of the BRFN.\u201d \u201cWe note that&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2024%2F11%2F04%2Fbrfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. \u2014 Legal counsel representing four Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN) councillors has alleged that ousted BRFN Chief Judy Desjarlais has overstepped her boundaries. Desjarlais posted a series of letters to Facebook on October 28th, with lawyer Naz Mitha, the counsel representing BRFN, pointing out an apparent series of violations. BRFN said an investigation concluded Desjarlais violated the First Nations\u2019 bylaws, and she was removed in late September. Mitha claims a binder containing Band Council Resolutions, among other items, is missing. \u201cWhile Ms. Desjarlais is challenging her removal, I anticipate that you will accept that,\u201d said Mitha in the letter dated Friday, October 25th. \u201cUntil a court says otherwise, she is no longer Chief of the BRFN.\u201d \u201cWe note that... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, and Canada Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2024%2F11%2F04%2Fbrfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-86658","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>BRFN: Ousted Chief&#039;s counsel disputes removal, alleges council errors - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/04\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BRFN: Ousted Chief&#039;s counsel disputes removal, alleges council errors - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Ed Hitchins, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. \u2014 Legal counsel representing four Blueberry River First Nations (BRFN) councillors has alleged that ousted BRFN Chief Judy Desjarlais has overstepped her boundaries. Desjarlais posted a series of letters to Facebook on October 28th, with lawyer Naz Mitha, the counsel representing BRFN, pointing out an apparent series of violations. BRFN said an investigation concluded Desjarlais violated the First Nations\u2019 bylaws, and she was removed in late September. Mitha claims a binder containing Band Council Resolutions, among other items, is missing. \u201cWhile Ms. Desjarlais is challenging her removal, I anticipate that you will accept that,\u201d said Mitha in the letter dated Friday, October 25th. \u201cUntil a court says otherwise, she is no longer Chief of the BRFN.\u201d \u201cWe note that\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/04\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-11-04T22:10:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/04\\\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/04\\\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"BRFN: Ousted Chief&#8217;s counsel disputes removal, alleges council errors\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-11-04T22:10:56+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/04\\\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":417,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"National News\",\"ticker\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-CA\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/04\\\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/04\\\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2024\\\/11\\\/04\\\/brfn-ousted-chiefs-counsel-disputes-removal-alleges-council-errors\\\/\",\"name\":\"BRFN: Ousted Chief's counsel disputes removal, alleges council errors - 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