59,000 Federation of Newfoundland (FNI) internal documents have been handed over this week to the lawyers representing the ‘Friends of Qalipu Advocacy Association.’

‘Friends of Qalipu,‘ established in April 2013 in response to the controversial Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation Band Supplemental Agreement, has been working its way through the courts under the firm Browne Fitzgerald Morgan and Avis of St. John’s, NL for the past few years. The plaintiffs, collectively known as Benoit et al., are Shawn Benoit, Matthew Anderson, Marie Tapp Melanson, Bobbie Tapp Goosney, Paul Bennett, and Jennifer Sue Le Roux. Their funding has been provided by donations from those affected by the enrolment process.

Applicants claim the Supplemental Agreement was not ratified by the FNI membership

‘Friends of Qalipu’s Statement of Claim stipulates that as members of the Federation of Newfoundland Indians, the precursor to Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation, they were not afforded the possibility of voting on the Supplemental Agreement which tightened rules and some would say changed the criteria of membership within the band. That they say, was a direct violation of their rights as members of the Federation of Newfoundland Indians since the Supplemental Agreement was not ratified by its members. While the case primarily is concerned with the NL Corporations Act, it has many other facets.

In 2020, the Federation of Newfoundland Indians under the leadership of Qalipu Chief Brendan Mitchell filed a court appeal which sought to block usage of two highly sensitive documents pertaining to the Supplemental Agreement in the court case. The ‘Friends of Qalipu’ represented by their law firm won that case and today that same legal counsel has been provided with access to an additional 59,000 previously undisclosed documents held within the offices of the FNI according to the ‘Friends of Qalipu Applicants.’

Qalipu Election Looming; Chief Mitchell being challenged

This is a significant development for the court case with the Qalipu First Nation Band election looming in the near future on October 22, 2021 where three candidates hope to challenge the incumbent Brendan Mitchell. Mitchell has been heavily criticized in recent weeks by Rob Dicks, former Director of Operations of Qalipu First Nation in communications with the Newfoundland Mi’kmaq news outlet ‘Mi’kmaq Matters.’

Trial between Benoit et al. versus the Federation of Newfoundland Indians and the Crown is set in St. John’s at the Supreme Court of Newfoundland & Labrador during the 3-week period of June 6 to 22, 2022.