Legal challenge of Liard First Nation's 2020 election dismissed
A legal challenge of the results of Liard First Nation's 2020 election for chief and council has been dismissed.
The challenge, which took the form of a petition, was dismissed via court order following a case management conference on Oct. 12.
Former Liard First Nation (LFN) chief George Morgan had filed the petition to the Yukon Supreme Court in July 2020 after he lost his seat to current chief Stephen Charlie.
The petition named the First Nation, LFN's election committee, chief returning officer Colleen Craft, and Charlie as respondents. It alleged corruption and inconsistencies in the electoral process, with Morgan asking for Charlie to be declared an invalid candidate or for the election results to be thrown out and a new vote held.
The court order, dated Oct. 13, states that the petition is dismissed "as if by way of judgment following a trial of the proceeding on its merits," with each party to cover their own legal costs.
Charlie narrowly beat out Morgan in the June 2020 election, garnering only four more votes than the then-incumbent.