Dehcho FN decries ‘ridiculous’ NWT Supreme Court ruling in Lindberg Landing dispute

In the latest chapter of the Lindberg Landing saga, the man at the centre of a years-long dispute on the shores of the Liard River has been found guilty in NWT Supreme Court of civil contempt and fined $2,500 — a decision that does not sit well with the Dehcho First Nations.

Justice Sheila MacPherson determined that Clinton Leussink, a resident and leaseholder at the tiny isolated community, did not criminally violate court orders to remove obstructions on the access road into the area, that includes a public boat launch.

The court had previously heard the area — located off Highway 7 between Fort Simpson and Fort Liard, two to three kilometres northeast of Blackstone Territorial Park — has historically been used by Indigenous harvesters to hunt and fish and is culturally significant to the Dehcho people.

While arguing he had done his best to comply with the court order to remove the gate, posts, signs, and recording equipment — and to not create future obstructions — Leussink denied the area was significant or used by Indigenous people, “at least for the last 20 years.”

Dehcho First Nations Grand Chief Herb Norwegian on Wednesday referred to “squatters … on the property at Lindberg Landing” who had blocked public and Indigenous peoples access to a boat launch and public roads at Lindberg Landing.

Norwegian expressed his extreme disappointment with the court’s decision.

“This fine of $2,500 is ridiculous … it seems that when white thugs attack Dene and Dene property, the courts bend over backwards to be lenient with them,” he stated in a release.

Norwegian also accused “squatters” of engaging in a “sustained campaign of vandalism, violence and intimidation aimed at preventing Dehcho Dene from accessing an area which has historically been an important area for traditional harvesting.”

One year ago, heavy equipment belonging to Nogah Enterprises of Fort Simpson, a Dehcho First Nations company, was vandalized after it was contracted to enforce the original court order and remove the gate after Luessink refused to comply.

Damages were estimated by the company to be in excess of $100,000. No criminal charges have been laid in that case.

The GNWT’s representatives attended the area on November 25, 2025 — two months after the vandalism — and noted the continued presence of obstructions, stated the court ruling.

The Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) officers were yelled at and it’s alleged Leussink contacted Nogah Enterprises and told them to remove equipment and “that he should not take the job.”

Stated Justice MacPherson: “Coming shortly after the unexplained damage to equipment on September 22, 2025, (Leussink’s) instruction to the contractor to abandon the job was reasonably capable of being understood by DECC officials as a threat, rather than simply an expression of disagreement.”

Justice MacPherson stated in her decision last week that Leussink’s failure to fully comply with the court orders was “knowing and deliberate.”

She declined to order reimbursement of the costs incurred by the GNWT in removing the gate posts and obstructions, as “those expenses are substantial and arise in the context of broader ongoing litigation between the parties concerning the road, the obstructions, and the parties’ respective rights and obligations.”

She concluded: “In my view, it is preferable to address those issues as part of the larger proceeding, where they can be considered in light of the full evidentiary and legal context.”

Leussink is a joint tenant with Susan Mae Lindberg on four leases in Lindberg Landing:

• He bases his argument on the assertion that the Main Access Road is not a “highway” as defined in the Motor Vehicles Act, in that the public is not “ordinarily entitled or permitted to use for the passage of vehicles … “
• He points out that Edwin Lindberg, an early resident in the area, constructed the Main Access Road in the 1990’s using his own funds and that the Commissioner currently does not maintain it. He equates the Main Access Road to a “driveway to a half dozen properties” and asserts that the public was never “ordinarily entitled or permitted” to use it.
• In advancing his argument that the Main Access Road was not ordinarily used by the public, the Defendant emphasized the remoteness of the area and submitted that very few individuals travelled the road regularly. He denied that the area was significant or used by Indigenous people, “at least for the last 20 years”.

The court has heard the area has historically been used by Indigenous harvesters to hunt and fish and historically and culturally significant to the Indigenous people in the region. The area in question is also subject to a land withdrawal order to facilitate the Dehcho process land claim.

– from court documents

Stated the judge in granting her original interlocutory injunction:

“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 (GNWT) officials from carrying out their statutorily mandated duties, is a serious issue to be (later decided).”