Letter to the Editor

I have read the recent article printed in “Letters to the Editor” and submitted by some of the siblings of the late Matthew Elmer White, namely Harold White, Carl White, Nelson Dave White and Robert White.

By leaving out significant facts the Whites have put in print misleading and erroneous information that leaves the wrong impression. The matter has already been decided in court, but the Whites have failed to mention that fact.

My common law partner Matthew Elmer White died on March 3, 2005. We had no children. Mathew did not have a Last Will and Testament and died intestate.

By virtue of the provisions of the Indian Act I am the sole beneficiary of Matthew Elmer White’s estate.

On May 2, 2005 I was appointed Administrator of the estate of Matthew Elmer White by the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada. On July 26, 2005 I received a Certificate of Possession for the lands formerly in the name of Matthew Elmer White from the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

By a Statement of Claim issued in the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario on August 11, 2005, Nelson Dave White commenced a court action against myself and my brother Dan Garrow seeking to recover their alleged claims to Matthew’s estate.

The Whites later amended their claim in court against my brother and myself to add Harold White, Carl White, Michael White and Robert White as party plaintiffs against my brother Dan and myself. In those proceedings the Whites raised the issue of whether their claims against me ought to be tried and determined according to the Laws of Canada. I raised the issue as to whether after all these years the Whites had brought their action against me too late and in the wrong court. These issues were argued before the Honorable Justice R. Leroy on May 18, 2011 and decided by him on June 13, 2011.

On May 18, 2011 during the court appearance before Justice Leroy, through their lawyer, the Whites agreed in open court and conceded that I was in fact the common law spouse of Matthew Elmer White. Justice Leroy determined that the law of Canada did apply. This determination was recently confirmed in the Superior Court of Justice for Ontario before the Honourable Justice R. Leroy on December 5, 2012.

The Whites had failed to take any proceedings before the Federal Court of Canada that may have been available to them in the spring of 2005, but which are no longer open to them. The Whites have failed to mention that they were ordered to pay costs to me, which they have paid.

The Whites have not continued with their claims against the Attorney General of Canada.

Therefore, my appointment as administrator of Matthew’s estate stands and I am the rightful, lawful owner of the lands previously registered in the name of Matthew Elmer White.

On April 17, 2012 the Whites commenced an action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice at Cornwall, Ontario against their former first set of lawyers, Benoit M. Duchesne and their former second set of lawyers, Michael Swinwood for damages arising out of the lawyer’s representation of the Whites during the court action against my brother and myself. I am not involved in that action and do not know its status.

In the White’s “Letter to the Editor” they make no mention of the fact that they have applied to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on 2 occasions, and that in the action against me they have been unsuccessful as the court has not accepted their claims either against me, against my brother or against the Estate of Matthew Elmer White.

It is wrong for the Whites to state that documents were fabricated or false. The documents have been accepted by the Minister of Indian and Northern Affairs and the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The Whites through their lawyer have agreed that I am the Common Law Spouse of the late Matthew Elmer White. This fact they do not mention in their “Letter to the Editor.”

I am concerned that any “information gathering” as proposed by the Whites would be one-sided and strongly influenced by the Whites, contrary to the position determined by the Minister of Indian Affairs, and contrary to the decisions of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice in Cornwall. I do not believe that the Whites will provide all the relevant documentation including the documents they have filed in court and the written decisions of Justice R. Leroy and the Ontario Court of Appeal’s decision denying the Whites appeal as to costs.

The Whites have no right to request that no one trespass on the property at 435 Island Road. The Whites have no right, title or interest in the real property described as 435 Island Road, Akwesasne, Ontario. They have no say about this property. I hold the Certificate of Possession to this real property. They have no right to say what is to be done regarding my property.

I am requesting that no one trespass on my property at 435 Island Road, Akwesasne, Ontario, including the Whites and their families.

Signed,

Carol Garrow