The federal court has ordered the Sawridge First Nation to add the names of 11 new members to its list. But one of the women says the band is dragging its heels on the order, instead telling the women it cannot afford to build them houses or look after their needs.
The Mar. 27 interim decision from His Hon. Judge James K. Hugessen specifically names the women, adding “because these women are getting on in years (a twelfth member of the group has already died and one other is seriously ill) and because the action, despite intensive case management over the past five years, still seems to be a long way from being ready to have a trial date set down, the Crown alleges that it is urgent that I should provide some form of interim relief before it is too late.”
Later in his 21-page decision, Judge Hugessen says “whatever inconvenience the plaintiff might suffer by admitting 11 old ladies to membership is nothing compared both to the damage to the public interest in having Parliament’s laws flouted and to all the private interests of all the women in question who, at the present rate of progress, are unlikely ever to benefit from the law which was adopted with people in their position specifically in mind.”
Cecile Yvonne Loyie says she’s one of the 11 invited to meet with new Sawridge Chief Roland Twinn and his council June 28, but added there was no mention of the women’s rights or how the band plans to deal with them at that meeting.
“The meeting was a farce,” she said later, with band members talking about everything except that which the new ‘members’ wanted to hear.
“They said they couldn’t build a house until next year, and that houses are just for the really needy families,” said the 59-year-old woman who lives in a Slave Lake Housing unit.
Loyie said the council also alleged it doesn’t have the money to build homes, or to distribute to the new members.
“I don’t want their money and I told (Chief Twinn) that. All I want is a house and some land to call my own, and something for my children and grandchildren.”
“They say they can’t afford to build any more than one house each year – but why do Bertha L’Hirondelle (former chief) and (her niece) have those beautiful new mansions when they already have houses elsewhere in town?”
A transcript of the judge’s decision reveals that Loyie and her sister were among several who never ‘applied’ for band membership, but the woman says she shouldn’t have to fill out the 280-page document “that asks everything from how many times you’ve had VD (venereal disease) to how many cigarettes you smoke every day.”
In his decision, Judge Hugessen also points out the document is ‘onerous’ for would-be members.
It also orders that the 11 individuals “immediately be accorded all the rights and privileges attaching to Band membership.”
Sawridge First Nation Chief Roland Twinn could not be reached for comment last week.

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