Liard First Nation fires employees who criticized governance, deputy chief told to 'go back to the rez'

The Liard First Nation in southern Yukon has fired two employees who spoke to CBC News about issues they have with the First Nation's governance and their efforts to get the chief to resign. 

The deputy chief, meanwhile, says he was verbally accosted by the chief after going to council chambers to get more information about the firings. 

Diana Lee Jimmy (Tseskį̄ze) and Emeral Poppe (Dōgalá, Gūzā́gī Kī́'ī́hłamā) worked for the First Nation's language department and also make up half of Dene Ā́' Nezen, a grassroots group of Liard First Nation members calling for more transparency and accountability. They spoke to CBC News this week about the initiative, which includes circulating a petition calling on Chief Stephen Charlie to resign.

The interview aired on the radio Tuesday morning. By Thursday morning, both had received termination letters from the First Nation's executive director, citing the interview and their criticism of the government as justification for their immediate dismissals. 

"I was a little bit surprised but also not surprised because I've been kind of, like, expecting something to happen," Jimmy said in an interview Thursday afternoon. "And as the day goes on, I'm less anxious about it. I feel it's just more of them proving our point." 

The letters, which Poppe and Jimmy shared with CBC News and also posted on Facebook, say they "made serious allegations about the workplace being toxic and unsafe and stated that employees are afraid to speak up for fear of repercussions." 

"The implication behind your comments is that the current Chief is corrupt and incompetent in his leadership role which is an egregious and baseless allegation as well as a defamatory comment," the letter also reads. 

"Your comments are unacceptable for these reasons as well as because your comments constitute a serious breach of the duty of loyalty you owe to (the First Nation)…. Put simply, you cannot enjoy employment and its benefits with the Nation government you are petitioning to get rid of." 

Jimmy said the First Nation also changed the locks to the language department's office, meaning other employees weren't able to get into the building Thursday morning. 

The First Nation's executive director did not respond to an emailed request for comment. Charlie did not respond to an email, messages sent to two of his Facebook accounts or a voicemail left on his cellphone. No one picked up the phone at the First Nation's executive council or administration offices when CBC News called Thursday. 

Jimmy and Poppe both said they don't regret speaking out.

"I think it'll only give us more time to continue working on trying to create change in our band and for our community," Poppe said. 

Other members of Dene Ā́' Nezen agreed.

"We definitely have the people's support," Alexis Spencer (Belelįge) said. "Elders, adults — they're cheering us on, telling us to keep going."

"This is just fuel to the fire of what we're trying to do,"Abigail Stogrin (K'ūsk'ale) added.

'Very sad state of affairs,' deputy chief says

Liard First Nation Deputy Chief Harlan Schilling, in a separate interview, said he learned about Jimmy and Poppe's terminations on Facebook and went to council chambers that same morning to ask about what was happening. 

"Immediately, I was told by Chief Charlie that I was not a part of this council and I was directed by him, word-by-word, to go back to the rez," he said. 

"The first words that came out of my mouth were, I'm like, 'Did you just say that?'" 

Schilling, in his role as deputy chief, also leads the Daylu Dena Council in Lower Post, B.C., a small off-shoot community less than 25 kilometres from Liard First Nation's headquarters in Watson Lake. 

He recalled people using, "Go back to the rez," against him in a derogatory way when he was a child and said it was "disheartening" to hear an elected official use that same language in 2024. 

Schilling, who signed a letter in October with four councillors saying they'd lost confidence in Charlie, added that while people may not agree with leadership and their decisions, they should be allowed to voice those opinions without fear of losing their jobs. 

"Again, [it's a] very sad state of affairs for Liard First Nation just before the holidays," he said. 

In the meantime, members of Dene Ā́' Nezen said they want to speak to as many people as possible in the lead-up to a community meeting on Tuesday, where a non-confidence motion on Charlie's leadership is expected to go to a vote. 

Jimmy said group members were putting in their own time and money to host meetings, purchase food and otherwise talk with people because they believe the First Nation needs change.

"A lot of our past leadership before colonization and the Indian Act was done collaboratively, like, among our people, and that's really missing right now," she said. 

"I have no political aspirations, so I'm just doing this, like I've said several times, for our ancestors and for our descendants…. We need to make things right and be led with integrity."