Injunction filed by ousted councillor puts PBCN urban by-election to a halt

From left: Former councillor Warren McCallum stands with Chief Peter Beatty at an event with veterans. Photo courtesy pbcnurbanoffice.ca

Instead of spending Thursday monitoring a by-election for Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation’s urban councillor position, the band’s electoral officer is trying to sort out a legal snafu.

The by-election to replace ousted councillor Warren McCallum was set to go ahead, but a last-minute wrench was thrown into the plan when a federal injunction put things to a halt.

Electoral Officer Darryl Kingfisher confirmed the injunction was filed by McCallum and his legal counsel.

Late last year, PBCN’s Elders Council voted to remove McCallum, after they’d been presented with a petition that made serious allegations about his conduct.

At the time, Chief Peter Beatty confirmed that the decision was final and would be respected.

McCallum’s injunction questions the validity of the process followed to have him removed, Kingfisher said.

The election is postponed for the time being and it could take months to resolve the issue, Kingfisher said.

He added that he’s been in contact with legal counsel as well, and is working to resolve the issues.

In a late December interview with MBC, McCallum’s lawyer Kimberly Stonechild explained why McCallum took her on as legal counsel.

“Mr. McCallum, with respect to that, he’s currently weighing his legal options to determine whether or not the decision of the Elders Council should be backed by a band resolution,” she said.

At the time, she said McCallum was considering civil litigation over constructive dismissal and wrongful dismissal.

McCallum or Stonechild have been unavailable for comment at this time.