Chief of Behchokǫ̀ Bertha Rabesca Zoe says her lawyer has sent cease-and-desist letters to two people relating to the sharing of confidential documents.
In a Sunday statement online, Zoe said the documents are connected to her termination as Tłı̨chǫ executive officer – the Tłı̨chǫ Government’s senior administrator – before becoming chief.
According to Zoe, a confidential termination agreement exists. She alleged some people “continue to share” details connected to that agreement on Facebook.
On Facebook, two Behchokǫ̀ residents each posted public statements on Sunday suggesting they had been recipients of a letter like the one Zoe described.
“I have people calling me and telling me what they were told and the details of the confidential documents,” Zoe wrote.
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“I believe in free speech, but it is not absolute. There are legal consequences for spreading false lies and using these documents to discredit me as Chief.”
Cabin Radio has not seen the documents referred to by Zoe. She described them as a “housing detail account, 2023 evacuation detail account and TEO corporate Visa statements.”
She faced questions about her brief time as Tłı̨chǫ executive officer during June’s election campaign, in which she ultimately defeated incumbent Clifford Daniels by 600 votes to 353.
Questioned during a radio interview in early June, Zoe said her termination agreement had been negotiated by a lawyer.
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“This happens all the time in corporate worlds, in governments where senior management have employment agreements and if things don’t work out, they terminate their agreement and they get a payment,” she said in the interview.
“People seem to think that I committed fraud and I stole money from the Tłı̨chǫ Government, that’s why they fired me. That’s not true.
“People spreading lies like that is wrong, and I personally can sue people for lying like that.”
In her Sunday statement online, Zoe said the residents who received letters would “face litigation” if they did not comply.
A separate election campaign for Tłı̨chǫ grand chief is now under way, with Daniels again one of two contenders, this time against Jackson Lafferty. Election day is on Monday.
That campaign has been marked by online vitriol, with numerous residents issuing appeals for calm in the past week.
