Lawsuit seeks to destroy former Peguis chief’s reputation: court papers

The former chief of Peguis First Nation claims a lawsuit filed against him by the band is meant to sully his reputation — and hamper his chances in future elections.

In a statement of defence filed in the Court of King’s Bench last month, former Peguis chief Glenn Hudson denied he engaged in “corrupt practices,” failed to act in the best interest of the First Nation and improperly financially benefited from his role when he was chief.

Hudson said in his counterclaim the allegations in the lawsuit “are inaccurate, without foundation and without proof,” and that the band would or should have known the allegations were baseless.

He argues the lawsuit, which he says has harmed his ability to earn income and damaged his reputation, is meant to defame and discredit him.

Hudson, who was chief of the community of about 10,200 from 2007 to 2015, as well as from 2017 to 2023, lost to Chief Stan Bird in a 2023 election.

Hudson is still contesting that election in the Federal Court of Appeal. The next election is slated for 2027.

In his counterclaim, Hudson argues the band’s lawsuit and Bird’s public statements about it were “meant to discredit him and prevent him from being eligible to or to significantly damage his chances of being re-elected as chief or councillor in future elections.”

Hudson said in the court papers the federal government performed four forensic audits during various years when he was chief that, in part, focused on allegations against him similar to those in Peguis’s lawsuit.

“In all four instances no findings against Hudson for corruption or of the type of behaviour alleged in the claim were made,” reads the counterclaim. “This is or ought to be known to the plaintiff.”

Hudson is seeking damages in his counterclaim and argues the lawsuit is an abuse of process.

The First Nation filed its lawsuit against Hudson in December, accusing him of breaching his duty to the community and causing it to suffer significant financial harm.

That included allegations of Hudson inking business and real estate deals and other contracts he was alleged to have personally benefited from, making unauthorized transfers of funds and treating the community’s funds as his own while he was chief and a shareholder and director of several Peguis corporations.

Hudson argues those claims are not based on fact.

The former chief also said he never invoiced Peguis for personal items and services for himself and his loved ones, nor did he improperly receive honorariums for attending events as chief, as alleged.

The lawsuit also claimed he used his band-issued credit card to make cash gifts to Peguis members and encouraged them to charge the band for gasoline, but Hudson says it was a “normal occurrence” for Peguis reidents to seek money from the band to pay for fuel and other expenses.

The lawsuit alleged that Hudson diverted a $30,000 grant meant for a monument for residential school survivors — but the former chief says the monument hasn’t been released as the individual developing it is still looking for additional names to include.

He also denied a claim he diverted $250,000 from Peguis’s hospital to cover the First Nation’s cash flow shortages in 2022 or 2023.

The lawsuit alleged Hudson directed the band to approve spending $22 million in treaty land entitlement money in 2013 on property at Assiniboia Downs, without disclosing he was a director of a company paid just shy of $1 million for “purportedly” arranging financing for the deal.

But Hudson said the band council authorized that investment and he was not connected to the company that arranged financing.

The band’s lawsuit accused Hudson of not acting in Peguis’s best interest when the First Nation’s real estate trust used $10 million in treaty land entitlement money in 2021 to buy a golf course in East St. Paul, then place an adviser and developer in control of the development before selling him much of the land in 2024.

Hudson said he did not and could not influence the trust and wasn’t at all involved in the Meadows property.

The band’s court papers also claimed Hudson didn’t act in Peguis’s interest when the trust bought land on Wellington Crescent for $350,000, then sold it to a third party for profit, but he again said he did not influence the trust to do so.

He was also accused of causing Peguis to award construction contracts to firms in which he had an interest, including $20 million in contracts to an engineering firm the lawsuit claimed he co-founded, but he says he did not have a role at.

Hudson, the court papers say, also oversaw Peguis taking in $95 million in loans from a private lender in 2017, then directing $10 million to a cannabis venture he had an undisclosed interest in the next year.

He denied the money was repurposed and said he became a board member of the cannabis venture after Peguis got involved in it — and didn’t take any money to do so.

Hudson argues much or all of Peguis’s lawsuit should be subject to limitations, given the events are alleged to have occurred many years ago, meaning it should not be allowed to proceed in court.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca