No more court dates for Sturgeon Lake Chief

Felix hugged and shook hands with the supporters alongside his wife Sandra.

“For me it was a sense of great relief,” Sandra recalled the moment she found out about the dropped charges.

“I felt like the world has been lifted from my shoulders. I got very emotional and I just went into my bedroom and just cried.”

“A year of aggravation for nothing,” Felix said. “I’ve got mixed feelings. Very mixed feelings, but it’s a good feeling to be free.”

The charges came shortly after Felix was elected and sworn in as the chief of Sturgeon Lake First Nation.

In April 2015, Felix was suspended without pay pending the outcome of the court case. The band’s election act states that in the event an elected official is charged with an offence that may affect their ability to give effective leadership, he or she shall be suspended without pay.

Now that the charges have been stayed, Felix is ready to continue his role as Chief.

“I don’t know if it’s going to be normal, but we will have to try to make it normal because we have lots of work to do – lots of work,” he said.

Cherkewich has suggested in the past that the accusations may have been politically motivated.

According to Cherkewich, the charges were dropped due to “serious gaps” and “inconsistencies” in the complainant’s story.

knguyen@jpbg.ca

Follow on Twitter: @khangvnguyen

by Khang Nguyen

No more court dates for Sturgeon Lake Chief

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