Elected chief of Salt River First Nation wants to end fighting and be given a chance to lead

It's been a year and a half since Toni Heron was elected chief of Salt River First Nation, N.W.T., but she's still waiting for a chance to properly step into that role.

Speaking publicly for the first time on the latest court battle, Heron told CBC it's been a long, drawn-out process and not something that she saw coming when she was elected. 

"When you get elected into a position, you're there to work for the people who elected you," she said. "I was elected by the members to do a duty. And that duty is to the membership."

In the most recent development, the acting chief and council called a special meeting last Thursday to ask the membership to vote whether to completely remove Heron from power.

But the morning of the meeting, federal court Justice Christine Pallotta prohibited Salt River First Nation (SRFN) from holding the special meeting to remove her, and stayed her previous suspensions.

Pallotta also declined to issue an injunction that would stop council from re-suspending Heron. 

Council has now voted to re-suspend Heron until midnight on April 19.

Pallotta also issued a temporary stay of council's decision to ban Heron from SRFN offices and from interfering with administration, staff and day-to-day business, until that matter can be addressed by a judicial review. 

It's the latest in months of political turmoil that have seen Heron repeatedly suspended as chief since she was elected in September 2022 — efforts led by councillors Brad Laviolette and Kendra Bourke, both of whom Heron has also tried to get removed from council.

Laviolette then stepped in as acting chief.

CBC has repeatedly reached out to Laviolette, but so far he has declined to comment. CBC has not been able to reach Bourke for comment.

Council documents up until this point show Laviolette and Bourke allege Heron violated her oath of office and the First Nation's election code shortly after being elected because of disputes that had arisen during a council meeting.

Council called the April 4 special meeting after a recent federal court judgment. In it, Justice Paul Favel found that the Salt River First Nation (SRFN) council did not follow its election code when suspending Heron as chief.

Favel approved Heron's application for a judicial review of the suspension against her and said when council suspended and then repeatedly re-suspended Heron, they did not do it "in a procedurally fair and reasonable manner."