Tlicho hold special assembly over leadership dispute

Around 180 members of the Tlicho aboriginal government in the Northwest Territories are meeting in a special assembly Wednesday in an attempt to resolve a leadership dispute in the region.

The assembly, which began around 3 p.m. MT Wednesdayin Behchoko, has brought together elders and other citizens from all four communities in the Tlicho territory to have their say on the current internal strife that has pitted Grand Chief George Mackenzie against three of the Tlicho's four chiefs.

The meeting is expected to run well into the evening and possibly into Thursday.

Earlier this month, Behchoko Chief Leon Lafferty, Chief Charlie Nitsiza of Whati and Chief Henry Gon of Gameti demanded that Mackenzie step down, saying they have lost confidence in his leadership.

Wekweeti Chief Charlie Football, who did not sign the letter, has said he doesn't want Mackenzie to resign.

Mackenzie has refused to resign, arguing he has a responsibility to serve out the last half of his four-year term.

On Tuesday, he said he would not talk about the issue to the media until after Wednesday's assembly. He was elected grand chief when the Tlicho, formerly known as the Dogrib, formed their own government in 2005.

During an emergency meeting Tuesday of the chief's executive committee, Lafferty accused Mackenzie of having lawyers run the Tlicho government, not the four chiefs.

"What we see more and more is that if he doesn't have a document written for him by the lawyers, then he doesn't speak on anything," Lafferty said. "We've gone to meetings without the lawyers and he's never had much to say."

Lafferty, Nitsiza and Gon left shortly after Tuesday's meeting began, claiming the session was unconstitutional.

Mackenzie enjoyed some support at the meeting when other members of the executive committee declared their support for him, the other 40 to 50 people in attendance applauded.

But some other Tlicho citizens, like John Mantla, support the dissenting chiefs' belief that the government has not been accountable.

Mantla told CBC News that he's still waiting for answers to questions he asked in July, during an abbreviated summer assembly held during the Dene Nation's assembly.

"I was hoping to get answers on the audit, and why this meeting was so short, like, half a day," he said. "We need answers as Tlicho citizens."

John B. Zoe, the Tlicho government's executive director, said leadership disputes such as this are just part of the growing pains of any young government.

"But the main thing is to try to find some resolution to it," he said.