Second Alberta First Nation seeks asset freezing order against separatist lawyer, The Sturgeon Lake Cree First Nation is seeking to remove Jeffrey Rath as the overseer of its trust fund by Matthew Black, Aug 11, 2026, Edmonton Journal
A second Alberta First Nation is poised to secure a freezing order against separatist lawyer Jeffrey Rath amid questions regarding his oversight of its trust funds, including more than $12 million in withdrawals that the band learned of only last month.
Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation (SLCN) Chief Sheldon Sunshine is seeking to remove Rath as trustee of the band’s trust fund that he has overseen since 2017, alleging underpayments, lack of financial disclosure, and “rude treatment by the staff at Rath & Co.,” according to Sunshine’s affidavit filed with the court last month.
In court documents, SLCN claims it learned in July that Rath’s professional corporation had withdrawn $12.8 million from the trust since May of 2023 without notice or approval.
“The nature and extent of the amounts taken by RathCo were unprecedented and undisclosed and appear designed to benefit RathCo and Rath at the expense of the trust’s vulnerable beneficiaries, many of whom are children,” reads a written submission from SLCN’s lawyers submitted Monday.
SLCN is seeking to freeze $42.4 million of Rath’s assets.
On Tuesday, SLCN lawyers and a representative for Rath’s professional corporation agreed to an interim order that freezes an unspecified amount of Rath’s assets and temporarily removes him from his role as trustee as the band seeks details on the status of its trust fund.
Calgary Court of King’s Bench Justice Allison Kuntz is expected to sign the order later Tuesday afternoon.
As per the order, Rath has until 4:30 p.m. on Wednesday to provide SLCN with account numbers and locations of its trust fund. The order also prohibits him or his professional corporation from doing anything dissipating the trust assets in any way.
“Right now, we do not know where our client’s trust is held, by which financial institutions in which name, and we don’t know whether Mr. Rath or his professional company have taken any steps to dissipate any of those trust assets in the meantime,” SLCN lawyer Caireen Hanert told the court.
Lawyer Scott Chimuk said he was retained by Rath and his professional corporation only on Monday but that Rath was not conceding any wrongdoing.
“In no way do the respondents agree to or admit to the merits of any of the allegations in the underlying application,” he told the court, noting future hearings were still to come.
“I think we’ve agreed to fight another day.”
Rath, who was not in court on Tuesday, has been among the faces of the province’s separatist movement, serving as the lawyer for Stay Free Alberta and its efforts to put its own separation question on the ballot after gathering 223,000 validated signatures.
Hanert described the order as being similar to one granted to the Tallcree First Nation of northern Alberta last month, which froze $8.5 million of Rath’s professional corporation’s assets while its finances are under review by a court-appointed receiver.
Tallcree First Nation is also seeking to remove Rath as the trustee of its trust fund, alleging he made improper payments out of the trust last November, including $8 million in precious metals that Rath characterized to Postmedia as investments that were disclosed and had since been cashed out.
$28.6 million fee
Tuesday’s court hearing was the latest in an ongoing legal battle between SLCN and Rath.
According to Sunshine’s affidavit, Rath represented the SLCN in 2017 in a dispute with the federal government over its failure to provide agricultural benefits as per treaty law that eventually led to a settlement for SLCN of $143,228,312.
Rath subsequently drafted a trust agreement to manage the funds that included a contingency fee agreement of 20 per cent of the settlement, or $28.6 million.
Seven years later, a Court of King’s Bench justice found the fee agreement was unenforceable, and the decision was upheld by the Court of Appeal in February of 2025.
In May, SLCN sought to have the $28.6 million fee paid into court to be held pending further litigation.
SLCN’s application notes a previous audit flagged $12 million in withdrawals from the fund to Rath’s professional corporation between May of 2023 and January of 2024.
In a Jan. 13, 2025 letter from Rath and later produced in court records, he said $11.5 million of those payments were for the trust fund’s administration fees.
“Fees were assessed based on a review of other trust administrative fees charged by similar trusts,” he wrote.
“The assessed fees are well within the range of fees assessed and charged to similar trusts.”
He wrote that the remaining $500,000 was paid to “cover necessary legal expenses associated with the management of the trust.”
SLCN’s application to remove Rath as trustee is scheduled to be heard in court in mid-December.
Lynette Brown:
What some seem to forget is that the trust funds stem from multi-million-dollar federal treaty settlements awarded to FNs like the Tallcree First Nation and Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. The issue at hand is FNs are in court accusing Rath and his firm of improperly appropriating or withdrawing millions in fees and charges without adequate accounting or transparency. The courts have issued temporary freezing orders on millions of dollars of Rath’s assets, finding a strong prima facie case that improper payments were made.
This is not difficult to understand if one chooses to have an open mind and stop looking only through a partisan, and somewhat biased, eye.
John Wilson:
His problems with the Alberta Law Society alone tell of his character ( sleezy)
Randy Sweetie:
So that’s how he’s been funding his separation movement.
Ian Hamilton:
While you’re at it should we be looking further into the 8 million dollar purchase of precious metals made by Alberta Separatist Jeffery Rath…..after all he says it was cashed out ….but but but he sought a $500-billion line of credit from the U.S. government to fund Alberta’s separation efforts…..and we all know how DT just loves those precious metals…..sweeten the deal perhaps….all there in black and white !!!
Separatist lawyer defends $8M precious metals purchase as First Nation seeks accounting transparency, Rath told Postmedia the purchase was an investment that has “long since been cashed out” and accused Tallcree First Nation of making inflammatory statements by Matthew Black, Aug 06, 2026, Calgary Herald
A northern Alberta First Nation claims separatist lawyer Jeffrey Rath withdrew $8.5 million from the band’s trust fund, deposited the money into his professional account, and on the same day purchased $8 million worth of precious metals, according to financial disclosure records cited in court on Wednesday that the band says show the need for greater accounting transparency.
Speaking then at a virtual Court of King’s Bench hearing, Tallcree First Nation lawyer Jessica Kras said Rath transferred the funds from the trust to his professional account on Nov. 17 of last year.
On the same day, she said he used $8 million of those funds to buy gold or silver bullion, with the remaining $500,000 being transferred into a bank draft in Rath’s name.
Tallcree First Nation has accused Rath of misappropriating money he was overseeing as the trust fund’s trustee, and has had Rath provisionally removed from that role, though Rath is seeking an appeal. Last month, a judge froze $8.5 million of Rath’s assets following an application from the First Nation, which is seeking to permanently disqualify Rath as the fund’s trustee.
Rath told Postmedia on Thursday that the purchase of precious metals was an investment that had “long since been cashed out.
“(Tallcree) is simply making inflammatory statements for consumption by the press,” he wrote in a text message. “None of this is secret. All of it has been fully disclosed.”
Wednesday afternoon’s hearing was primarily to clarify the bounds of the receivership order imposed on Rath that allows for the search and storage of his professional corporation’s records.
Kras argued in court that Rath’s purchasing history justified the order applying to a wide swath of his professional corporation’s business and affairs beyond just those related to Tallcree.
“The receiver requires not just bank statements, but the surrounding records allow it to discern the purpose of the transactions, who they were made to, whether they were legitimate or not.”
Rath, who has represented Stay Free Alberta and its separatist petition, was not among those in attendance at Wednesday’s hearing.
His lawyer, Ed Halt, argued that the receiver was exceeding the order’s mandate, and that privileged, confidential, and Rath’s own private records could be exposed in the review.
“It surely cannot be the intention of this order for Mr. Rath’s personal pursuits to be captured by the scope of the receivership order, such that the receiver can ultimately access Mr. Rath’s personal affairs beyond any financial transactions that could relate to these to the Tallcree Trust.”
Justice Grant Dunlop did not rule on whether Rath’s precious metals purchase constituted a breach of trust, but upheld the scope of the order, finding that it applied beyond just records related to Tallcree’s trust fund.
“The mandate relates to Tallcree. The trust assets relate to Tallcree. But Rath PC is the whole shebang of the Rath Professional Corporation.”