Millbrook First Nation councillor acquitted of illegal tobacco charges

A prominent First Nation councillor in Nova Scotia has been acquitted of charges linked to the 2022 seizure of a large amount of illegal tobacco, after a judge ruled Thursday the evidence in court did not prove he was the owner of the small shop selling the products.

On its surface, the decision is at odds with the public advocacy of the Millbrook First Nation councillor, Chris Googoo, who has asserted the Mi'kmaq have the treaty right to sell tobacco and cannabis outside of federal and provincial regulations.

In an interview outside the provincial courtroom in Dartmouth, N.S., just minutes after he was found not guilty, Googoo openly acknowledged he owns High Grade Trading Post in Cole Harbour, N.S.

He is willing to raise constitutional challenges, he said, but the system as it's set up means he must go through a trial first and he believed it was important to test the prosecution's evidence against him. 

"Yeah, I got acquitted," he said. "But that's due to the Crown and the authorities not doing their due diligence and getting their full facts in order. We have our full facts in order on our side of things."

The scenario is similar to another decision involving High Grade Trading Post from last spring in which another judge acquitted Googoo of cannabis charges after ruling the Crown had not proven the store was under his control.

Googoo is the founder of the Micmac Rights Association, a group he said now includes roughly 260 members. Its advocacy has focused on asserting the "sovereign rights" of Mi'kmaq, particularly around the sale of cannabis, both on and off reserves.

In Nova Scotia, the provincial government only allows cannabis to be sold through the Crown corporation Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation, while the sale of tobacco is regulated.

"We have a right to an economy just like any other person," Googoo said. "And it's not about selling tobacco or cannabis. In my eyes, they're both legal products, and the government sells it and we should be able to partake in those industries as well."

Revenue Act charges

In Thursday's court case, Googoo faced seven charges under Nova Scotia's Revenue Act, including possessing tobacco on which tax has not been paid and selling tobacco that didn't have the mark required by law.

In her decision, Judge Amy Sakalauskas said officers with the fuel and tobacco unit of Service Nova Scotia filled at least 10 garbage bags with cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products they seized on Oct. 5, 2022, from the store on Millbrook reserve land in Cole Harbour.

The sign outside said "Cheap Tobacco," the judge said, and inside cartons of cigarettes were selling for $60, easily half the price of those sold in the legal market. The store, she said, was "pretty loaded with inventory."

Googoo, however, was not at the scene when the authorities raided High Grade, and the judge said a crucial part of the case hinged on whether the prosecution could prove he was the owner and operator of the shop, which at the time was housed in a trailer.

Proving identity

Googoo's lawyer, Jack Lloyd, did not call any defence evidence and Googoo chose not to testify, which meant he was not questioned in court about whether he owned High Grade Trading Post.

The prosecution tried to prove he did. One officer testified a man who identified himself as Millbrook councillor Chris Googoo called him the day after the raid and confirmed he owned High Grade.

The officer also obtained records from Nova Scotia Power that showed the electricity account for the trailer was under the name Christopher Googoo. Another officer combed Googoo's Facebook page and those of his wife and High Grade.

The judge said it was a circumstantial case, one where various pieces of evidence when put together were close to proving that Googoo was the owner of High Grade.

But she said it was "an odd investigation" because the officers failed to take the needed extra steps. The names Christopher and Googoo are not uncommon in Nova Scotia, she noted.

The photos on the Facebook pages were grainy and poorly reproduced, the judge said, and she couldn't determine if they showed the same man who was sitting in court, even though an officer who served Googoo his court papers testified it was the same person.

She said the officer who received the call didn't investigate whether the number on the caller ID was actually associated with Googoo. The records from Nova Scotia Power had only a name, she said.

CBC News has reached out to Service Nova Scotia for comment on the case.