Former Peguis chief asks Federal Court of Appeal to overturn First Nation's most recent election
Glenn Hudson appeals lower court decision not to set aside 2023 election won by Stan Bird
The former chief of Peguis First Nation is appealing a federal court decision to dismiss his request to overturn the First Nation's most recent election.
Glenn Hudson has asked the Federal Court of Appeal to overturn the April 6, 2023, election held by Peguis, a Cree and Anishinaabe First Nation that is the most populous in Manitoba, with approximately 12,000 members living on and off its Interlake reserve.
Hudson, who was the incumbent, lost that race to Stan Bird, the current chief, by a margin of 440 votes, according to a sworn affidavit by Bird.
Hudson sought to set aside the result — 936 votes for Bird, 496 for Hudson — on the basis that Bird and Peguis Coun. Kelvin Wilson interfered with an advance poll held at Peguis on March 28, 2023.
In a decision issued in October, Justice Ann Marie McDonald declined Hudson's request, even though she concluded "the events at the advance poll constituted direct interference" with the election officer and amounted to a contravention of the First Nations Election Act.
"However, the evidence does not support a finding that those events impacted the ability of community members to vote on election day on April 6, 2023," McDonald stated in her decision.
In a notice of appeal issued in November, Hudson's legal counsel asked the Federal Court of Appeal to set aside McDonald's decision, overturn the 2023 Peguis election, and bar Bird and Wilson from seeking office again on the basis they contravened the First Nations Elections Act.
Hudson's lawyers also stated McDonald erred when she did not find Bird and Wilson's actions were akin to fraud or constituted fraud.
In a cross-appeal notice issued in December, Bird's legal counsel asked the Federal Court of Appeal to dismiss Hudson's appeal.
Bird's lawyers also asked the Federal Court of Appeal to amend McDonald's judgment to state one reason Hudson did not succeed in overturning the 2023 Peguis election was a failure to name and serve the chief electoral officer in that election as part of Federal Court proceeding.
Bird's legal counsel also asked the appeal court to award costs associated with the Federal Court proceedings to the current chief, something McDonald chose not to do.
Hudson more recently ran in the election for grand chief of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs, finishing fourth in a race won by former Long Plain First Nation chief Kyra Wilson on Wednesday.