Who’s In Charge Here? Da’naxda’xw First Nation v Peters And The Dynamics Of One First Nation’s Leadership – McCarthy
July 06, 2021
The Federal Court recently weighed into a hereditary leadership dispute involving the Da’naxda’xw First Nation (DFN) in British Columbia, ruling that neither group had legal authority to govern the First Nation. In Da’naxda’xw First Nation v Peters [1], two parties claimed to be the rightful governing authority of the northern Vancouver Island First Nation: the Glendale Band Council (GBC) and the Hereditary Chief Council (HCC). The GBC is comprised of a hereditary Chief, Gordon Glendale, and two councillors. The HCC consists of 4 hereditary Chiefs (including Gordon Glendale), and was created by a consent order that arose as a result of a governance mediation in 2017 (the “Consent Order”). The DFN has approximately 226 members, the vast of majority of which reside off reserve.
DFN had been governed by the GBC for some time, but in 2017 DFN re-assessed its leadership structure through a governance review and vote. DFN did not previously have a written governance or election code. DFN considered three governance models: (1) a Hereditary Chief and two elected councillors; (2) Hereditary Chiefs supported by a Family Leadership Council; and (3) an Elected Chief and two Elected Councillors. DFN voters overwhelmingly supported the option of Hereditary Chiefs supported by a Family Leadership Council. The results were announced on March 22, 2017 (the “Governance Review Results”).
