Legal action launched this month against the Kwikwetlem First Nation by a band member has been discontinued.
A spokesperson for the Vancouver Federal Court confirmed Tuesday the lawsuit by Ron Jackman had been dropped.
Jackman and other band members had sought to recover an estimated $800,000 bonus paid to Chief Ron Giesbrecht, who collected the money this year in his dual role as chief and economic development officer.
The bonus was in relation to a provincial land deal to extinguish Kwikwetlem's aboriginal rights to 584 acres of Crown land on Burke Mountain in Coquitlam. Much of that property has since been sold to Wesbild for future development.
As a result of the government transaction, which Jackman alleged in his lawsuit had been done "in secret," the 82-member band reaped $8.2 million - 10% of which went to Giesbrecht. The payment was revealed this summer after Kwikwetlem disclosed its statements under the new federal First Nations Financial Transparency Act.
A request for comment from Jackman was declined on Tuesday. And repeated requests for comment from Chief Giesbrecht have gone unanswered.
In a written statement in August, Giesbrecht said he would not resign but the 10% bonus for the economic development officer position had been terminated as of April 1.
"In my role as chief, I am one of the lowest-paid chiefs in the country," Giesbrecht said, referring to his $4,800 annual salary. "I was asked to take on the role of economic development officer because I know the importance of these opportunities for our nation.
"I did not expect our nation to be as successful as it was and it means that Kwikwetlem First Nation is in a better position than it has ever been before," he wrote.
@jwarrenTC
