Former chief shocked to be named in lawsuit
Jonathan Kruger says he was shocked and saddened to learn he’s among six ex-councillors being sued by the Penticton Indian Band. “It’s really unfortunate it had to come to this,” he said Thursday, a week after learning through the media that the PIB is alleging he and the others are putting bandowned businesses at risk by refusing to hand over control.
Kruger said the matter went before a judge Sept. 25 in Kelowna, where the unrepresented defendants were granted an additional week to hire a lawyer.
As the lawsuit explains, the band’s six businesses are owned by the PIB development Corporation, shares in which are held by the chief and eight councillors, with those shares transferred after each election as required.
In July, however, council passed a resolution calling for transfers of all shares to Chief Chad Eneas while a new shareholder structure is created, according to the lawsuit. The defendants, four of whom were voted out of office in November 2016, have allegedly refused to comply with the transfer request and, as a result, the band’s businesses are at a virtual standstill.
Kruger served as chief for two terms before being ousted by Eneas, and was then elected to council. He said his concern with the transfers lies in the “process,” and he’s confident once more information comes out that he and the other defendants will be exonerated.
“We need a clear timeline, and hopefully these half-truths will come out in the timeline and people can see for themselves and judge for themselves,” he said.
Kruger also noted he thought a deal had been reached at a community meeting on Aug. 30 to resolve a host of issues, so he was disappointed to see council go back on it.
“It’s pretty hurtful and disrespectful as far as I’m concerned,” he said.
Kruger also takes exception to a legal opinion released last week by PIB leaders that indicates there is no mechanism to launch a non-confidence vote, as some members had requested.
“In governance, if there’s nonconfidence, you know people are going to speak up about it, so I think it’s a reality,” said Kruger, who similarly disagrees with a separate opinion from Indigenous Affairs and Northern Development Canada that the chief and three remaining councillors constitute a quorum.
“If you look at all our band council resolutions, it says right at the very top a quorum is five,” Kruger said.
“This has never happened in the history of the Penticton Indian Band where we lost a quorum — in our history — and we need to figure this out and deal with it.”
Eneas collected 179 votes compared to 124 for Kruger, the twoterm incumbent, in the October 2016 election.
The band has indicated Eneas will only respond to media and public questions on the lawsuit on a weekly basis via email.