After being sued for interference in the election of chief and band councillors (intimidating the Chief Electoral Officer) for the Black Lake First Nation, David Bigeye argued that he was not properly served. Here’s an excerpt from Bigeye’s sworn affidavit.
THAT on June 19th, 2010 at approximately 8:00 p.m. one Donny Robillard, who is known to me came to my house highly intoxicated and handed me a yellow envelope. I inquired of Donny Robillard what was in the yellow envelope and he replied that he did not know the contents of the yellow envelope but that Tanya Nilghe had instructed him to bring the envelope to myself (sic). I told Donny Robillard that I would not accept the envelope unless Tanya Nilghe explained to me the contents of the envelope and Donny Robillard left my house with the yellow envelope unopened.
The judge determined that:
The law is clear that the defendant need not know the general nature of the claim advanced against him for personal service on him to be valid. As stated in Re Avery, quoted with approval in both Bradbrooke, supra, and La Coste, supra, personal service is effected by delivering the document into the defendant’s hands, which is what happened to Bigeye. Bigeye’s statement that he would not accept the envelope unless Tanya Nilghe (the chief electoral officer) explained the contents to him and returned the unopened envelope to Donny Robillard does not change matters. Bigeye was given the opportunity to determine what was in the envelope; he chose not to. Refusal to enquire as to what the documents may be is not a basis to invalidate what otherwise constitutes valid personal service.
Turtle Talk 