Littlechild beats GST lawsuit

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Wetaskiwin anti-GST voters have lost their court case against Native MP Willie Littlechild. Plaintiff Erin Wall of Rimbey says he doesn't consider the failed suit a loss. "We learned something and that is there's something wrong with the system." Wall, along with seven other anti-GST constituents, filed a lawsuit against Little child, Canada's first Native MP, after he voted in favor of the GST. They say he failed "in his duty to consult with and account to his constituents to adequately represent their majority views" against the GST.

Justice E.A. Marshall of the Court of Queen's Bench ruled the court can't compel MPs to be accountable to their constituents. "They have no legal requirement to consult with voters. They are accountable to Parliament."

Wall, a Rimbey dairy farmer, says she hopes the case "will make other citizens speak out to change the system. It's not the parties, it's the system that forces us to choose our dictators."

Marshall awarded $200 in damages and costs to Littlechild who cold not be reached for comment. Wall says she will accept the ruling but is still "waiting for Littlechild to explain why he voted for the GST when 1,200 of us oppose it." Wall's community of 1,700 recently slapped Littlechild with a 1,200 name petition outlining their refection of the GST.

"If he's going to go against us, he'd better explain why," says Wall.

Littlechild says he's willing to meet publicly with concerned riding residents.