Trial ordered in former grand chief’s lawsuit against OPP

Former Treaty 3 grand chief Leon Jourdain will get his day in court.

An Ontario Superior Court judge has ordered that Jourdain’s claims of negligent investigation, malicious prosecution and defamation against members of the Ontario Provincial Police in Kenora can proceed to trial.

Jourdain was charged with sexual assault in February 2004 after a Treaty 3 employee complained to police that he had kissed her. The woman is listed as one of the defendants in Jourdain’s lawsuit. The charge against him was dropped on the first day of trial in October 2004 when she failed to appear and police said they could not find her.

Jourdain’s brother Larry, executive director of Nishnabe Aski Legal Services Corporation in Thunder Bay, said the charge had a devastating affect on Leon and his family. His wife and two adult daughters are claimants in the $2.5 million suit.

In the months following the charge, Leon fell into the depths of depression, Larry said. “The only word I can find in Ojibway is a word that means beaten, not even the will to fight nor the will to speak,” said Larry, who talked to Windspeaker by telephone after his brother declined to be interviewed.

The statement of claim filed April 2005 names Detective Constable Karen Rustige, the investigating officer, and Detective Sergeant Wade Meeks, the OPP case manager, as having breached their duty of care towards Jourdain.
The officers chose to proceed with the prosecution even though there was no reasonable prospect of conviction and no public interest was served, the court document reads.

A Crown motion to dismiss all of Jourdain’s claims was heard before Justice Donald J. Gordon in Thunder Bay in September 2009.

Gordon did dismiss a claim against a Crown attorney for malicious prosecution. But in his Jan. 25, decision, the judge found that there are several matters in the police investigation that are “troubling” and should be examined at trial.

Among the areas of concern identified by Gordon:
1.) The timing of the alleged sexual assault was not determined at an early stage.

2.) Police made no meaningful inquiry as to Jourdain’s whereabouts on Feb. 4 despite the availability of staff records.

3.) It appears that police did not make full disclosure of the facts to the justice of the peace in seeking a warrant for arrest, and the decision to seek it may have been premature.

4.) There was limited inquiry into the complainant’s background and a failure to consider possible emotional issues.

Gordon also found that police had to be alive to the politics involved.

“This is a small community in terms of population,” he wrote in his decision. “Many of the witnesses were related to (the complainant). Others opposed Mr. Jourdain in the political arena. This is not to say the complaint was politically motivated. Rather, it is apparent that the political environment had to be a consideration during the investigation. Such, for example, pertains to the purported admissions by Mr. Jourdain.”

A news release about the charges against Jordain issued by police Feb. 27, 2004 was picked up by media across Ontario and beyond. The sensational nature of the charge forced Jourdain, an outspoken and charismatic leader, to step down in his second term as grand chief.

In his statement of claim, Jourdain cites the case of North Spirit Lake First Nation member Max Kakegamic as a factor in the charge against him. On Feb. 18, 2004, a judge had declared a mistrial and stayed a manslaughter charge against a man accused in Kakegamic’s killing because of “egregious acts of misconduct” by Kenora police.

The timing of the charge and the news release was intended to deflect public attention from the scandal, Jourdain states in the court document.

The suit is expected to be heard late this year or in early 2011.

Jourdain’s lawyer Francis Thatcher has noted his client has never had a chance to clear his name, and the cloud of the unproven charge continues to hang over his personal, political and professional life.

“His reputation and national political aspirations have been ruined,” Thatcher said, adding that Jourdain is satisfied that the action will go to trial.

Larry Jourdain is still emotional when he recalls how Leon came to his home community of Lac La Croix after the charge was laid, in advance of the Treaty 3 National Assembly that would consider whether he should continue as grand chief.

“He came to see us, to meet with our council,” said Larry, then the Lac La Croix chief. As soon as Leon entered the room “I knew something was wrong. I knew that he was very distraught and he wasn’t himself.”

Larry asked members of council to leave them alone. As the two talked, Larry realized that their roles had been reversed: he, the younger brother, was now the one who had to lead.

“I had never seen him in that state before, and we went through a lot together.”

Leon gave Larry a solemn oath that the allegation was false. When the other councillors returned “we decided we would go to council and defend his innocence, which we did, for three-and-a-half days, but to no avail. They impeached him anyway.”

Grand Council Treaty 3 represents 24 First Nations in northern Ontario and southeastern Manitoba.

In 2006, the Jourdain family urged Leon to run for chief of Lac La Croix. He refused, so Larry put his name forward again. But in the meantime, a group of band members convinced Leon to run. On election day, Larry was happy to see his brother win by a landslide.

Larry, a social worker, saw in Leon signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. Now, Larry believes, he is beginning to recover.

“He has a different perspective on things now. It’s been a long time coming. He’s still guarded, he’s still hyper-vigilant. He’s still very careful of who he talks to.”