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Jamie Sarkonak: N.B. judge invents the Aboriginal right to be represented by an elder in court

A man accused of lobster poaching argued that the Constitution gives him the right to use an elder instead of a lawyer in court ... and won

One of Canada’s most notorious ex-lawyers practicing fake law is named Glenn Bogue, but courts often dignify him by using his ludicrous stage name, “Spirit Warrior.” He’s an Indigenous sovereigntist who self-identifies as an “unconquered Métis man”; essentially, the LandBack version of a freeman on the land.

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When he’s not fighting the law society that suspended his licence in 2019 (and revoked it in June) for breaching the rules of the profession, he’s playing the advocate. He takes “clients” and tries to represent them on the basis that the Canadian state and courts have no authority to tell them what to do, and demands millions, sometimes billions, in debt relief or payments from the Crown. His attempts at lawyering are usually shut down in court — but that could change, if a recent decision out of New Brunswick catches on across the country.

Jamie Sarkonak: N.B. judge invents the Aboriginal right to be represented by an elder in court Back to video

In the decision, posted online Sept. 1, Judge Martin Goguen declared that it’s unconstitutional to bar Indigenous elders (or delegates, or “sachem” — tribal leaders) from representing Indigenous clients in provincial court on minor offences. This was just the ruling of one low-ranked judge who can’t set precedent anywhere in the country, but........

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