RCMP can evict Lindberg Landing occupant after threat of resistance

A judge has authorized police to use “reasonable force” in removing occupants and belongings from a site being illegally occupied at Lindberg Landing.

Justice Sheila MacPherson said the “safety concerns” are sufficient that RCMP should be allowed to accompany territorial staff in ensuring Aidan Hoven vacates land at the isolated Dehcho settlement, on the Liard River.

An associate of Hoven had sent a written warning that “there are many people willing to stand in front of their shack and prevent any attempt to kick them out” if officers try to enforce a warrant.

The presence of Hoven and others at Lindberg Landing has been controversial for years, with some residents describing threats and intimidation.

The site is also part of a broader concern around the Dehcho Process and how the land will ultimately be governed in future.

MacPherson issued her ruling on Friday. The GNWT began proceedings in November last year to have Hoven and various items removed from the site.

An April 2024 inspection had found a trailer, doghouse, two car shelters, sea can and shed were on the land, which had been withdrawn as part of ongoing Dehcho Process negotiations, according to MacPherson’s written ruling.

While Hoven did not appear at any stage in the court proceedings, MacPherson said Hoven had previously written to the GNWT accusing officers of a privacy invasion when they posted a notice at the site ordering him to vacate it.

In that letter, MacPherson said, Hoven had asserted that “he had a right to occupy the property as he and his family had nowhere else to go.”

Clinton Leussink, who leases the adjacent land, also contacted the GNWT and “made assorted threats with respect to legal action and publicity,” MacPherson wrote. (After this article was first published, Leussink disputed this characterization, saying he was aware messages had been sent from an email account he could access – but he had not written them.)

The judge said there was no dispute that the land was being illegally occupied. If Hoven does not vacate the site and remove all items by August 1, RCMP are authorized to “use reasonable force to remove any person” from the property.

Meeting over violations

Who gets to live where at Lindberg Landing has been in dispute for some time, and the disagreement has often taken on a sinister air.

Some people in the area have described roads appearing to be intentionally blocked by obstacles or people acting in a threatening manner.

MacPherson said court proceedings involved multiple calls to the courtroom in which someone appeared silently by phone, declined to identify themselves, and then hung up.

Hoven and Leussink had told the GNWT that Hoven was at Lindberg Landing to help operate a sawmill run by Leussink, and that the structures were temporary.

Hoven previously told Cabin Radio he and his wife joined other families in making the move to Lindberg Landing a few years ago because they wanted a quiet, peaceful life in the bush.

“I just want to make a good life for my family,” Hoven said in 2024. “Everyone wants to not offend or cause any fights with any neighbours.” He alleged RCMP had previously turned up with territorial officers and “essentially intimidated my wife and children.”

But Cabin Radio heard from locals, some Indigenous and some not, who said they felt pushed out of Lindberg Landing by the new residents – and intimidated by them, rather than the other way around.

Last January, a meeting was held in Nahanni Butte to discuss concerns about Lindberg Landing, which is the traditional territory of the Nahæâ Dehé Dene Band.

The meeting focused on alleged lease violations caused by the new residents, including an area that was reported to have been cleared down to the bank to open up access to the river.

The Dehcho Process – the means by which Dehcho First Nations are negotiating with the NWT government and Canada for self-government – requires that some Dehcho land be set aside until agreements are reached.

A document known as an Interim Measures Agreement governs how land and water in the region can be used in the meantime.

First Nations in the area have said the changing identity of the leaseholders at Lindberg Landing is a breach of that interim agreement.