Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation surprised by trust fees levied by Jeff Rath, seeks to remove him as trustee

The chief of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation says he learned only this week about millions of dollars in fees allegedly charged to the band’s trust fund by lawyer Jeff Rath in 2023 and 2024.

Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation surprised by trust fees levied by Jeff Rath, seeks to remove him as trustee Alberta separatist lawyer also involved in litigation over trustee fees with another First Nation The chief of Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) says he learned only this week about millions of dollars in fees allegedly charged to the band’s trust fund by lawyer Jeff Rath in 2023 and 2024. The allegations are found in an affidavit from Chief Sheldon Sunshine filed in Court of King’s Bench of Alberta on Tuesday. The affidavit was filed in the ongoing legal proceedings between Chief Rupert Meneen of the Tallcree First Nation and Rath, who is also a key figure in Alberta’s separatist movement.

Meneen’s matter was in court this week. He alleges Rath has failed to return $8.5 million in fees that he alleges were improperly charged to the Tallcree First Nation trust. The First Nation further alleges Rath has failed to properly account for an additional $6 million in retroactive charges to that same account.

In an affidavit sworn on June 25 in the Tallcree First Nation litigation, Rath said the fees charged to the First Nation were in a trust agreement approved by the band council. He says the First Nation’s allegations he misappropriated funds from the trust are false. The SLCN has been battling Rath in court over similar allegations.

That First Nation says the lawyer charged its trust $28,577,607 in contingency fees in 2018. The SLCN later sought to have a judge review the fee. However, court records show that the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta later found that the contingency fee arrangement “was unenforceable.”

The trust holds funds the SLCN received from the federal government in a settlement over denied agricultural benefits. Now the SLCN says it has learned Rath allegedly charged the trust an additional $12,043,030. In Wednesday’s affidavit, Sunshine said the band received letters the trust’s former auditor Doane Grant Thornton LLP exchanged with Rath in late 2024 and early 2025.

The auditor asked about four amounts Rath charged to the account in May 2023, July 2023 and in January 2024. Rath replied that the charges were administrative and legal fees permitted under the declaration of trust agreement. He rejected the auditor’s request for an independent opinion on the charges from an “arm’s length lawyer.”

Sunshine said prior to Monday neither he nor his council had any knowledge about the charges. He said the newly revealed information prompted the band council to hold emergency meetings on Monday and Tuesday. “I was deeply concerned with the information contained in those letters,” Sunshine says in the affidavit.

“The entire council expressed to me their similar concerns for our children’s trust settlement monies provided to us pursuant to Treaty No. 8. “Despite years of successful legal filings, which SLCN has borne the cost of, we are worried many children will never see that money from the settlement and that our nation will never see any return of the disallowed contingency fee following the eventual review.” The First Nation is seeking to remove Rath as trustee.

A hearing is scheduled for December. CBC News has sought comment from Rath and his legal counsel about the allegations. Rath’s profile has increased over the past couple of years due to his prominent role in the Alberta separatist movement.

He is the lawyer for Stay Free Alberta and the Alberta Prosperity Project. The Tallcree First Nation was granted a temporary injunction on Wednesday temporarily freezing Rath’s personal and professional accounts. Rath’s professional corporation is the Tallcree First Nation’s trust’s sole trustee.

Rath was removed from that position by a Court of King’s Bench of Alberta justice last month. In an affidavit sworn on June 25 in the Tallcree First Nation litigation, Rath said the fees charged to the First Nation were in a trust agreement approved by the band council. He says the First Nation’s allegations he misappropriated funds from the trust are false.