Alberta Court to Hear Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Request to Remove Trustee Jeff Rath Over $12 Million in Fees

Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation Chief Sheldon Sunshine filed an affidavit Tuesday in the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta disclosing that lawyer Jeff Rath charged the nation’s trust fund $12,043,030 in fees in May 2023, July 2023 and January 2024, Cbc reported.

The affidavit states the nation learned of the charges only this week through letters exchanged between former auditor Doane Grant Thornton LLP and Rath in late 2024 and early 2025. The trust holds funds from a federal government settlement over denied agricultural benefits under Treaty No.

8. The nation seeks to remove Rath as trustee, with a hearing scheduled for December. In 2018 Rath charged the same trust $28,577,607 in contingency fees, an arrangement the Court of King’s Bench of Alberta later ruled unenforceable.

Chief Sheldon Sunshine stated in the affidavit that he was deeply concerned with the information contained in those letters. He added that the entire council expressed similar concerns for the children’s trust settlement monies provided pursuant to Treaty No. 8.

The nation held emergency band council meetings on Monday and Tuesday after learning of the charges. In a separate proceeding, Tallcree First Nation alleges Rath has failed to return $8.5 million in fees and properly account for an additional $6 million in retroactive charges to its trust.

Rath stated in a June 25 affidavit that the fees charged were permitted under a trust agreement approved by the band council and that allegations of misappropriation are false.