Ont. judge rules Chartrand, others ‘acted honestly’

WINNIPEG — Manitoba Métis leader David Chartrand and two others were cleared Tuesday of allegations of financial impropriety in a civil case pursued by a council they led before a major split.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Loretta Merritt said in a 151-page decision that she found no evidence to support the Métis National Council’s claims that the defendants breached their fiduciary duties.

“We’re very pleased the judge saw right through this political attack that was being orchestrated,” said Chartrand, the longtime president of the Manitoba Métis Federation. “They filed a multimillion-dollar case with no evidence, so you can see why the judge ruled unanimously, in every aspect of the case, against them. Vengeance was their No. 1 priority.”

The judge said Chartrand, Clement Chartier and Wenda Watteyne are entitled to compensation for all of their legal costs.

Chartrand said millions of dollars that could have gone toward programs and services for Métis people were wasted on legal fees during the four-year saga.

“This should never have happened,” he said of the case brought forward by the Métis National Council. “This is an insult to the Métis people, an insult to our nation, that they would do this.”

In a statement, the council said it was disappointed by the judge’s decision, and it pursued the case in good faith as part of broader efforts to “restore confidence and accountability” within the Métis Nation.

The council sought $16 million in damages when it filed a lawsuit that named 16 defendants in January 2022. A nine-week trial concluded in March.

The council accused Chartrand, Chartier and Watteyne of conspiring in a “scorched earth policy” between 2019 and September 2021 to destroy it and empower MMF so the latter could become the national body for all Métis people in Canada. The judge did not agree.

Chartier was the Métis National Council’s president, Chartrand was its vice-president and finance minister, and Watteyne was its executive director. Watteyne is now MMF’s chief operating officer, and Chartier is its ambassador.

All three denied the allegations levelled by the council, with Chartrand accusing the plaintiff and its last two remaining members of holding personal vendettas and seeking to tarnish the defendants’ reputations.

A new administration took over the national body in September 2021, the same month MMF withdrew from the council amid a rift over Métis identity and citizenship.

The council accused Chartrand, Chartier and Watteyne of making secret, unauthorized transactions to financially benefit themselves or others before they departed.

“Mr. Chartier, president Chartrand and Ms. Watteyne did not breach their fiduciary duties. They acted honestly and with a view to the best interests of the MNC and the Métis Nation,” Merritt wrote in her decision.

“Mr. Chartier and president Chartrand … did not set out to destroy the MNC and harm it financially to benefit themselves, the consultants or the employees.”

Merritt said a $90,000-a-year consulting contract that the council awarded to Ryley James, a business run by Chartrand’s wife, Glorian Chartrand, in 2020 did not involve a breach of fiduciary duties.

David Chartrand was not involved in negotiating the contract, nor did he see it prior to the lawsuit, Merritt’s decision said.

The judge found Chartrand, Chartier and Watteyne’s evidence more credible and reliable than evidence from Métis Nation of Ontario president Margaret Froh, former Métis Nation of Alberta president Audrey Poitras and former Métis National Council president Cassidy Caron, who succeeded Chartier in September 2021.

“Overall, my impression was that Ms. Poitras’ and president Froh’s evidence was influenced more by their political views and interest in the outcome, than was the evidence of president Chartrand and Mr. Chartier,” Merritt wrote.

The Métis nations of Alberta and Ontario are the council’s lone remaining members, following the withdrawals of Manitoba in 2021, and Saskatchewan and B.C. in 2024.

“While the new administration of the MNC may not agree with Mr. Chartier’s and president Chartrand’s decisions, this disagreement does not establish a breach of fiduciary duty,” Merritt wrote. “Political disputes are best resolved at the ballot box.”

» Winnipeg Free Press