Mother Earth Defense Fund
Box 53, 10024 - 82 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T6E 1Z3
ph: 403-461-9532
fax: 403-450-2665
Press Release
January 8, 1995
MORE INJUSTICES OVER OLDMAN DAM - FEDERAL INQUIRY SOUGHT
Despite no objections from the Crown prosecutor, bail was denied
Milton Born With A Tooth in a December 16 hearing by the Alberta
Court of Appeal. The Court, however, has allowed the appeal to
proceed. In allowing an appeal, it is common for the accused to be
released on bail. Another application for bail will be filed on
January 16th.
Milton was also refused a parole for this past Christmas, because,
according to prison officials, RCMP files on Milton, requested over
two months ago, had not been received. Bureaucratic and political
manipulations continue to keep the Lonefighter in jail.
This recent denial for bail is another episode in a series of
unjust circumstances in the treatment of Milton's case and his
opposition to the Oldman River Dam by the Alberta justice system
and government. At the outset, Milton was denied of bail four
times in 1990 while awaiting for his first trial; a detainment
which at the time, the Alberta Civil Liberties Association
observed, "defies belief".
Now it has been learned that Justice Martin Hoyt who was to hear
the first bail application in 1990, through a highly unusual move,
was removed from the Bench by Assistant Chief Justice Art Wood, who
then went on to deny bail. This latest revelation adds more fuel
to the ongoing requests for a Federal Inquiry into all matters
surrounding the Dam and Milton's persecution.
Calls for implementation of all of the recommendations of the court
ordered environmental review of the Dam, including the first
recommendation -- decommissioning of the Dam -- also continue. To
this day, none of the 23 recommendations have been implemented,
including reaching an agreement with the Peigan people.
"The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs are supportive of the principles
behind Milton's actions to defend his territory and the interests
of Mother Earth," said Phil Fontaine, Grand Chief of the Assembly
of Manitoba Chiefs. "The longer those in positions of power
continue to prioritise economic interests over environmental
impacts, the closer we move toward global destruction."
The Mother Earth Defense Fund is also calling on all human rights
and environmental organisations to again demand a federal inquiry
into all matters regarding the Oldman River Dam, including the
persecution of Milton Born With A Tooth.
Milton is currently serving a 16 month sentence on charges stemming
from firing two shots in the air to warn provincial officials and
RCMP of their trespass onto the Peigan Nation reserve. This
occurred September 7, 1990 at the location where the Peigan
Lonefighter Society was working along the Oldman River to protest
the province's continued construction of the Dam. Earlier in March
of 1990, the Canadian courts had pulled the licence Alberta
required for the Dam and ordered an environmental review. However
the province defied the court ruling and stepped up construction of
the Dam.
- 30 -
for more information contact:
Lorraine Sinclair. Mother Earth Defence Fund; 403-461-9532
Lethbridge Herald
Friday, January 6, 1994 - p.1
ACTIVIST SAYS HE'S POLITICAL SCAPEGOAT
Milton Born With A Tooth claims he's victim of political
interference. - By Joanne Helmer, Lethbridge Herald
Native activist Milton Born With A Tooth says a last-minute switch
of judges prior to his first bail hearing in September, 1990 is
proof of political interference in his case.
Born With A Tooth is serving a 16-month sentence after being
convicted of weapons charges related to the controversial protest
of the Oldman Dam. He says he always knew he was receiving
preferential treatment.
Retired provincial court Judge Martin Hoyt, questioned by The
Herald this week, said he was displaced only minutes before the
hearing by Assistant Chief Judge Art Wood.
Wood refused to grant bail at the hearing. He said society would
be placed at risk if Born With A Tooth was released.
Attempts to contact Wood for comment have been unsuccessful.
Born With A Tooth says the switch was not merely a matter of a
judge overreacting.
"I was the scapegoat," he said from Calgary Correctional Centre.
"All along the motivation was to protect the political process."
"The government used racism to cover itself -- they're always
threaten society that the Indians are coming -- but the real issue
was its manipulation of all aspect of the Oldman Dam."
Born With A Tooth was charged with the possession of a weapon
dangerous to the public peace and dangerous use of a firearm.
Shots were fired when RCMP surrounded the Lonefighter camp on the
Peigan reserve to enforce a court injunction stopping diversion of
the Oldman River. Additional charges were laid two months later.
Hoyt says the Born With A Tooth case was politically sensitive.
"There seemed to be a concern among some of the judges," he says.
Court records confirm Hoyt was to preside over Courtroom One Sept.
18 where Born With A Tooth was to appear for a show-cause hearing.
"Just before Court started, Wood came in and said `Do you mind if
I take the courtroom?'," said Hoyt. "Born With A Tooth's name must
have just come up because I asked him if he was "seized" with the
case and he said no."
In legalise, "seized" means judges are bound to hear a particular
case because they have dealt with some aspect of it before. It is
intended to provide continuity.
"I didn't know what this hearing was about, whether Born With A
Tooth had pled guilty or something and Wood had already heard the
guilty plea," said Hoyt. "I suspected he was coming up for a bail
hearing but he was just one prisoner out of many."
"Wood said, no, he wasn't seized but he thought he should take it.
He didn't say why and I don't remember if I asked. But I couldn't
forcefully disagree anyway. He just arbitrarily reassigned me."
As senior judge, Wood arranges the scheduling.
An anonymous source in a high-level position in the justice system
said Born With A Tooth's case had cause concern.
"It may have cause people to act in ways they wouldn't otherwise,"
said the source.
Hoyt said he had never been displaced from his courtroom before.
"It was upsetting at the time because of the implication that I
might be prejudiced," said Hoyt. "I felt I could be as impartial
as anyone else on a bail hearing. I wondered if he had received
instructions. Why else (would he do that)?"
Hoyt did not make a formal complain. He was slated to retire soon.
*****************************************************************
Lethbridge Herald
Friday, January 6, 1994 - [related story]
SWITCH IN JUDGES STILL UNEXPLAINED
Sensitivity of case may have prompted Wood's decision. - By Joanne
Helmer, Lethbridge Herald
A high-level anonymous source in the justice system in Lethbridge
says he's not sure why a last-minute switch in judges occurred
prior to a bail hearing for native activist Milton Born With A
Tooth.
Justice Martin Hoyt now retired, was placed by Judge Art Wood
moments before the hearing for Lonefighter Milton Born With A Tooth
in September 1990. Born With A Tooth says the switch indicates
there was political interference in his case.
But the source says the chief judge's office in Edmonton would not
have ordered the switch.
"I suspect because of the sensitivity of the case there was a
feeling a senior judge should take over," he says. "There are
parallels with other cases. There's an assumption, for instance,
that senior Crown councils should take a high-profile murder case
that will attract a lot of attention to assure the public it will
be handled in the way it should be. It was an abundance of
caution."
"Wood was the senior judge in terms of rank but not longevity."
The source the switch was not a question of Hoyt's ability.
"Hoyt was one of the finest judges in the province," he says. "He
was not motivated by the events of the day but by a sense of
fairness. Maybe it was thought his view of the case would be
different from others."
The chief judge of provincial court in Alberta says in large
centres it's common for the judges schedule to change because of
illness or disqualification.
Judge Ed Wachowich says he's not aware it's so common in smaller
centres.
Wachowich investigates alleged breach of procedures. Anyone can
make a complaint to him.
Without knowing the details of the incident, Wachowich said
procedure isn't gospel.
"We are constantly changing judges but if there is an ulterior
motive that's a different thing."
Michael Kubara, a specialist in legal ethics at the University of
Lethbridge, said there are differences between the two judges.
"Hoyt is a traditional liberal and civil libertarian," said Kubara.
"Even he was surprised when an ex-american, liberal Jew, all of
which he is, was appointed by a Conservative government to the
bench. That said he had respect of his colleagues."
"Wood is a difference personality than Hoyt. He had Conservative
Party connections and was appointed by a conservative Government.
But merely because he has party connections doesn't imply one
ideological stance or another. All Canadian political parties are
made up the whole spectrum, from the right to the left wing. I do
know he is well respected by the bar."
Lorraine Sinclair, director of the Edmonton-based Mother Earth
Defense Fund gathering donations for Born With A Tooth's ongoing
legal battle, said the incident is another indication of political
interference in the case.
"It's wrong," said Sinclair. "When indigenous people try to
protect the environment and assert jurisdiction -- which is what
Milton did -- they scare the system."
The Council of Canadians, the International Rivers Network in
California and others in recent years have called for an inquiry
into the whole matter of the Oldman Dam, including Milton Born With
A Tooth's case. Amnesty International is also monitoring the case.
A spokesman for the Justice Minister Brian Evans can't comment as
long as the case is before the courts.
The Alberta government must provide an explanation, said Maude
Barlow, chair of the Council of Canadians.
Barlow said while it's understandable the government won't comment
on the case itself, they can surely comment on their own behaviour.
"If there has been political interference they have shot their
credibility," said Barlow. "If there hasn't, and they don't
answer, the process is still tainted," she said.
Born With A Tooth was again denied bail last week in an Edmonton
court. He was appealing the sentence imposed last summer, after a
second trial was ordered.
His first conviction was overturned by the Alberta Court of Appeal.
The presiding judge was rebuked by the Judicial Council of Canada
for his handling of the case