Lindberg Landing leaseholder ordered to remove gate

The NWT Supreme Court has ordered a Lindberg Landing leaseholder to remove a gate at the entrance of the main access road to the area.

In a written decision released on Friday last week, Justice Sheila MacPherson ordered Clinton Leussink to remove the gate, any signs on or around the access road, all recording devices and any obstructions on the road by September 5.

MacPherson further prohibited Leussink – or anyone else – from placing any obstructions on the main access road or a smaller, connected road leading to another leaseholder’s property. She also barred any signs indicating that the roads are not public or purporting to direct traffic on the roads.

“While there is evidence that Mr Leussink and others have described this as a private road, there is no evidence that any portion of the main access road is held by anyone other than the commissioner [of the NWT],” MacPherson concluded.

“The fact that the main access road was built by a leaseholder, and that other leaseholders, such as Mr Leussink more recently, may help maintain the main access road, does not give any leaseholder a legal interest in the main access road sufficient to block others from access.”

Worsening relations

Lindberg Landing is an area beside the Liard River, located around 50 km from Nahanni Butte.

It has historical and cultural significance to Indigenous people in the region, who have long hunted and fished in the area.

Lindberg Landing is part of a larger area subject to an interim land withdrawal, which protects the land from further development during the Dehcho land claim process.

The main road to Lindberg Landing off Highway 7 provides vehicle access to leaseholders’ properties and a public boat launch on the Liard River.

There are 10 leases in the area.

Three people, who now collectively hold six of those leases, moved to Lindberg Landing in 2021. That includes Leussink, who is a joint tenant on four leases with Susan Lindberg, a longtime resident.

Relations between the new Lindberg Landing residents and Stephen Herrett, a longtime resident and leaseholder, as well as nearby community members who have long used the area, have deteriorated in recent years.

Herrett claimed Leussink had deliberately obstructed the main access road and the road leading to his property numerous times, including with snow, trees and debris.

Herrett further alleged another new leaseholder shot his dog with a pellet gun and claimed Leussink admitted to shooting his dog and throwing a rock at it.

An employee at the NWT’s Department of Environment and Climate Change, or ECC, said they witnessed garbage, scrap metal and other items blocking Herrett’s access road and a tree blocking the main access road.

MacPherson wrote that the situation “reached a critical juncture” in July 2025, when a resident of Nahanni Butte observed a metal gate at the main access road with a sign saying “smile you’re on camera” and another sign with the names and phone numbers of Leussink and Lindberg.

From May: RCMP can evict Lindberg Landing occupant after threat of resistance

On August 1, an ECC employee said they saw a heavy-duty padlock on the gate, a CCTV camera and a new sign stating “private road use at your own risk.”

Herrett said he was not told about the gate nor given a key, and he would not feel comfortable calling Leussink to get access to his property.

Nahæâ Dehé Dene Band Chief Steve Vital told the court community members used to travel from Nahanni Butte to Lindberg Landing by boat, where they would then store their boats and drive to other places. He said that was no longer possible because people felt harassed and unsafe.

Leussink denied obstructing Herrett’s access road and said he did not install the gate on the main access road.

He did defend the gate, however, saying it is not generally closed and he and others were available to open it when it is locked. He said the gate is a necessary security measure and “essential for the safety of vulnerable individuals,” claiming he had been harassed and people were driving in the area, causing fear and safety concerns.

Irreparable harm

The commissioner of the NWT, who represents the federal government in the territory, had applied to the court for an order requiring Leussink to take down the gate.

The commissioner argued not issuing the order would cause irreparable harm. MacPherson agreed.

She concluded the public is normally entitled to use the access roads and blocking them is an offence under the Public Highways Act.

“The evidence is clear that the gate caused difficulties with respect to other leaseholders and the public using the main access road,” she wrote.

“The fact that a public road is blocked by a gate, preventing Indigenous people from freely accessing land that they have used to hunt and fish for hundreds if not thousands of years and preventing DECC officials from carrying out their statutorily mandated duties, is a serious issue to be tried.”

MacPherson was unpersuaded by Leussink’s argument that the gate is necessary for security reasons. She said he had not presented evidence supporting that claim and his concerns were “general in nature” regarding an adversarial relationship with other people who use the area.

“It may well be that there is now an adversarial relationship which has developed between Mr Leussink and residents in surrounding communities, but that does not justify the self-help mechanism of blocking others from the area. Indeed, those self-help actions may have no doubt contributed to the current adversarial relationship,” she wrote.

“It is not up to Mr Leussink to say who may or may not travel on the main access road.”

Despite Leussink denying that he installed the gate, MacPherson found he has control over the gate and ordered him to remove it.

She said if Leussink fails to do so by September 5, the commissioner may remove the gate, any cameras and signs, and dispose of them “by whatever means the commissioner chooses.”

She added that staff may be accompanied by RCMP officers to complete that work.