First Nations man fights banishment from northern community

A Manitoba father of five is seeking a judicial review of a decision banishing him from his First Nation after he was charged with driving through a community checkstop.

Fifty-three-year-old Terry Wayne Francois of Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation filed a notice of application in federal court last week seeking to quash the banishment order, which prohibits him from going to the First Nation, which is 80 kilometres west of Thompson.

Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation, which includes Nelson House, has operated a permanent checkstop since 2019, allowing peace officers to search vehicles for contraband, detect human trafficking or gang activity, and ensure no one under banishment enters the community.

On Dec. 30, 2024, Francois was driving home from Thompson with his daughter when he stopped for the checkstop, says the review application.

“Mr. Francois was willing to consent to a search of his vehicle… as he had done numerous times in the past,” says the court document. However, on this occasion, a dog was brought forward to search inside Mr. Francois’s vehicle. Mr. Francois refused to permit the dog to search his vehicle, believing that such a search was not authorized by law.”

Francois “expressed his strong objections” to the peace officers and drove home.

RCMP, in a news release at the time, alleged security video showed Francois’s vehicle making contact with one of the peace officers and nearly striking another as he drove away. One of the officers suffered a fractured finger, RCMP said.

The following morning, RCMP officers arrived at his house to arrest Francois on charges that include assault with a weapon.

“Mr. Francois recoiled from the officers, told them the charges were bogus” and resisted an attempt by officers to physically remove him from the home before finally relenting.

Francois was charged and released and told by police he could not remain in the community while his charges were pending.

“Mr. Francois was forced to stay in Thompson at his own expense, rather than returning to his home,” says the court document.

On May 21, Francois pleaded guilty to two counts of resisting a peace officer and was fined $600.

Francois tried to return home the following day and was told by a checkstop officer he had been banished from the community.

In June, Francois received permission to attend the high school graduation ceremonies of two of his daughters. Francois was attending the first ceremony on June 10 when he was handed a letter saying he had been banished from the community as of Dec. 30, 2024 and that he could request a hearing to overturn the banishment no earlier than Dec. 30, 2029.

The letter said band council passed a motion in May 2022 to place Francois on “conditional banishment,” which was upgraded to “full banishment” after the checkstop incident.

Francois said he had never been informed he was under “conditional banishment.”

Court records show Francois pleaded guilty to assault in 2022 and was sentenced to 12 months of probation.

Francois reached out to individual band councillors to overturn the banishment decision and was told “they had no choice but to sign off on the (decision) and that there was nothing they could do.”

Francois argues the banishment decision violates both his treaty rights and charter rights and denied him due process.

“Given the serious nature of the decision and its importance and detriment to Mr. Francois, a high degree of procedural fairness was owed before the banishment decision was taken,” says the court document. “Mr. Francois had no notice of the banishment allegations against him, or opportunity to respond to those allegations prior to receiving the banishment decision letter.”

Francois said he has been punished for the offences for which he pleaded guilty and should not be punished a second time with banishment.

No date has been set to hear the judicial review application.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca