Date: 20020911
Docket: A-337-02
(Action Nos. T-617-85, T-782-97, T-2804-97)
Neutral citation: 2002 FCA 331
CORAM: DÉCARY J.A.
Action No. T-617-85
BETWEEN:
MONTANA BAND, Chief Leo Cattleman, Marvin Buffalo, Rema Rabbit, Carl Rabbit and Darrell Strongman, suing on their own behalf and on behalf of all other members of the Montana Indian Band, all of whom reside on the Montana Reserve No. 139, in the Province of Alberta
RESPONDENTS (PLAINTIFFS)
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
RESPONDENT (DEFENDANT)
- and -
SAMSON BAND, Chief Terry Buffalo, Clifford Potts, Frank Buffalo, Florence Buffalo, Dolphus Buffalo, Lawrence Saddleback, Larron Northwest, Nancy Yellowbird, Barb Louis, Keith Johnson, Rose Saddleback and Jim Omeasoo, Councillors of the Samson Band, sued on their own behalf and on behalf of the members of the Samson Band of Indians
RESPONDENTS (THIRD PARTY)
- and -
ERMINESKIN BAND, Chief Gerald Robert Ermineskin, and Arthur Morris Littlechild, Earl Ted Ermineskin, Maurice Wolfe, Richard Leonard Lightening, Carol Margaret Wildcat, Carol Elizabeth Roasting, Glenda Rae White, Craig Alton Makinaw, Councillors of the Ermineskin Band, sued on their own behalf and on behalf of the Ermineskin Band of Indians
APPELANTS (THIRD PARTY)
- AND -
Action No. T-782-97
BETWEEN:
CHIEF FLORENCE BUFFALO, acting on her own behalf and on behalf of
all of the other members of the SAMSON CREE NATION AND BAND
- and -
THE SAMSON CREE NATION AND INDIAN BAND
RESPONDENTS (PLAINTIFFS)
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the MINISTER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario
RESPONDENT (DEFENDANTS)
- AND -
Action No. T-2804-97
BETWEEN:
ERMINESKIN CREE NATION and Chief Gerald Ermineskin, Earl Ted Ermineskin, Maurice Wolfe, Richard Leonard Lightening, Carol Margaret Wildcat, Carol Elizabeth Roasting, Glenda Rae White, Craig Alton Makinaw, Councillors of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, suing on their own behalf and on behalf of the ERMINESKIN CREE NATION
APPELANTS (PLAINTIFFS)
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN and the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
RESPONDENTS (DEFENDANTS)
Heard at Ottawa, Ontario, on September 11, 2002.
Judgment delivered at Ottawa, Ontario, on September 11, 2002.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT BY: PELLETIER J.A.
Date: 20020911
Docket: A-337-02
(Action Nos. T-617-85, T-782-97, T-2804-97)
Neutral citation: 2002 FCA 331
CORAM: DÉCARY J.A.
Action No. T-617-85
BETWEEN:
MONTANA BAND, Chief Leo Cattleman, Marvin Buffalo, Rema Rabbit, Carl Rabbit and Darrell Strongman, suing on their own behalf and on behalf of all other members of the Montana Indian Band, all of whom reside on the Montana Reserve No. 139, in the Province of Alberta
RESPONDENTS (PLAINTIFFS)
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
RESPONDENT (DEFENDANT)
- and -
SAMSON BAND, Chief Terry Buffalo, Clifford Potts, Frank Buffalo, Florence Buffalo, Dolphus Buffalo, Lawrence Saddleback, Larron Northwest, Nancy Yellowbird, Barb Louis, Keith Johnson, Rose Saddleback and Jim Omeasoo, Councillors of the Samson Band, sued on their own behalf and on behalf of the members of the Samson Band of Indians
RESPONDENTS (THIRD PARTY)
- and -
ERMINESKIN BAND, Chief Gerald Robert Ermineskin, and Arthur Morris Littlechild, Earl Ted Ermineskin, Maurice Wolfe, Richard Leonard Lightening, Carol Margaret Wildcat, Carol Elizabeth Roasting, Glenda Rae White, Craig Alton Makinaw, Councillors of the Ermineskin Band, sued on their own behalf and on behalf of the Ermineskin Band of Indians
APPELANTS (THIRD PARTY)
- AND -
Action No. T-782-97
BETWEEN:
CHIEF FLORENCE BUFFALO, acting on her own behalf and on behalf of
all of the other members of the SAMSON CREE NATION AND BAND
- and -
THE SAMSON CREE NATION AND INDIAN BAND
RESPONDENTS (PLAINTIFFS)
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN IN RIGHT OF CANADA and Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the MINISTER OF INDIAN AFFAIRS AND NORTHERN DEVELOPMENT, Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, Ontario
RESPONDENT (DEFENDANTS)
- AND -
Action No. T-2804-97
BETWEEN:
ERMINESKIN CREE NATION and Chief Gerald Ermineskin, Earl Ted Ermineskin, Maurice Wolfe, Richard Leonard Lightening, Carol Margaret Wildcat, Carol Elizabeth Roasting, Glenda Rae White, Craig Alton Makinaw, Councillors of the Ermineskin Cree Nation, suing on their own behalf and on behalf of the ERMINESKIN CREE NATION
APPELANTS (PLAINTIFFS)
- and -
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN and the ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA
RESPONDENTS (DEFENDANTS)
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT
(Delivered from the Bench at Ottawa, Ontario
on September 11, 2002.)
[1] This is an appeal from the decision of a case management judge dismissing a motion to amend the appellant Ermineskin Band's pleadings.
[2] The various claims which have been brought together for the purposes of trial have been under case management for 4 years or more. There have been two previous amendments to the pleadings by the appellant.
[3] The appellant attacks the Case Management judge's interpretation of its pleadings, arguing that by his restrictive interpretation, he has made the amendments sought seen more substantial than they are.
[4] We are of the view that there is no reason to interfere with the case management judge's exercise of his discretion. If, as alleged by the appellant, the amendments are simply a superior framing of the issues then the case management judge was entitled to hold the parties to the existing pleadings. This is particularly so in light of appellant's concession that the current state of the pleadings would not prevent it from making the case which it says is framed in a superior fashion by the amendments. If, on the other hand, the proposed amendments are substantial as the case management judge believed they were, his assessment of the consequences of allowing the amendments is entitled to considerable deference. We see no error in the exercise of his discretion.
[5] The meaning of the pleadings and the scope of the evidence which they permit the parties to lead are matters which are reserved to the trial judge. She will decide those questions on the basis of the evidence and the argument before her.
[6] As to the matter of costs, the case management judge's exercise of his discretion does not depart from established principle so as to justify our intervention.
[7] We would like to emphasize once again the heavy burden upon litigants seeking to overturn an interlocutory order by a case management judge. This Court is loathe to interfere with interlocutory orders in any case due to the delay and expense which such appeals add to any proceeding. This is all the more so where an appeal is taken from an interlocutory decision of a case management judge who is intimately familiar with the history and details of a complex matter. Case management cannot be effective if this Court intervenes in any but the "clearest case of a misuse of judicial discretion" to echo the words of Mr. Justice Rothstein in Sawridge Indian Band et al. v. Canada, 2001 FCA 339, (2001) 283 N.R. 112.
[8] For these reasons, the appeal will be dismissed with costs.
"J.D. Denis Pelletier" J.A.
FEDERAL COURT OF APPEAL
NAMES OF COUNSEL AND SOLICITORS OF RECORD
DOCKET: A-337-02 (Action Nos. T-617-85, T-782-97, T-2804-97)
STYLE OF CAUSE: ERMINESKIN BAND ET AL. v. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN ET AL.
PLACE OF HEARING: OTTAWA
DATE OF HEARING: September 11, 2002
CORAM: DÉCARY J.A.
LÉTOURNEAU J.A.
PELLETIER J.A.
REASONS FOR JUDGMENT: PELLETIER J.A.
DATED: September 11, 2002
APPEARANCES:
MS. BARBARA FISHER FOR THE APPELLANTS
ERMINESKIN BAND ET AL.
MS. SHEILA M. READ and FOR THE RESPONDENTS
MR. PAUL HENDERSON HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN ET AL.
MS. SYLVIE MOLGAT FOR THE RESPONDENTS
MONTANA BAND ET AL.
SOLICITORS OF RECORD:
BLAKE CASSELS & GRAYDON FOR THE APPELLANTS
VANCOUVER, B.C. ERMINESKIN BAND ET AL.
DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE RESPONDENTS
OF CANADA HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN ET AL.
OTTAWA, ONTARIO
DUBUS OSLAND FOR THE RESPONDENTS
OTTAWA, ONTARIO MONTANA BAND ET AL.