A court case involving a prominent Alberta separatist who had his assets frozen is set to move forward Wednesday.
Last week, Justice Michael Marion in Calgary granted an interim injunction freezing up to $8.5 million in assets held by Jeffrey Rath.
That injunction is set to be reviewed as part of a legal battle between Rath and Tallcree First Nation over a multimillion-dollar trust fund.
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The northern Alberta First Nation alleges Rath, its former lawyer, misappropriated millions from the fund.
The allegations have not been tested in court.
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For more than a year, Rath has been a main spokesperson for a movement seeking to have Alberta split from Canada.
Albertans are to vote in an Oct. 19 referendum on whether they want to stay in Canada or to start the process for a second, binding referendum on separation.
There’s a lot of confusion in this thread, and most of it comes from people mixing politics into something that’s actually very straightforward. This situation isn’t about ideology — it’s about how trust law works and what a trustee is legally required to do.
When RBC took over as trustee, they weren’t “going after” anyone. They were doing what the law requires them to do. A trustee isn’t the owner of the money — they’re a fiduciary. Their job is to protect the beneficiaries, review the trust’s finances, and report anything irregular. They don’t get to ignore red flags or make political judgments. They have obligations.
Before any of this happened, the court had already ruled that the 20% fee charged to the trust was excessive and ordered it returned. That’s an important detail. Once a court makes that finding, any movement of trust related funds into a personal account becomes a serious issue. Lawyers know this — trust money must never be mixed with personal funds. It’s one of the most basic rules in the profession.
So when RBC discovered that funds tied to the trust had been transferred into a personal account after the court ruling, they had no choice but to bring it forward. That’s not political. That’s fiduciary duty.
The judge then froze up to $8.5 million in assets because courts don’t issue injunctions of that size unless there’s evidence the funds weren’t where they were supposed to be. The freeze exists to protect the beneficiaries and preserve the trust while the matter is sorted out.
So the fundamentals are simple:
• Trustees must report irregularities — it’s the law
• The court had already ruled the fee was excessive
• Funds were later moved into a personal account
• RBC was legally obligated to act
• The judge froze the assets to protect the trust
None of this is political. It’s just how trust law works.
Rath is being dishonest. He’s a lawyer — he knows trust money must never be moved into a personal account. That’s one of the most basic rules in the profession. If the trust was properly set up and handled correctly, he should be able to prove that easily. The fact that he hasn’t, and that a judge froze up to $8.5 million of his assets, tells you everything you need to know. Courts don’t issue injunctions like that unless there’s evidence the funds weren’t where they were supposed to be. This isn’t about politics or separatism — it’s about a lawyer transferring trust money into his own account when he absolutely knew better. People can argue emotion and ideology all day, but the facts here are straightforward.
Just asking but how did you liberals get so f-ing dumb, is it from your parents?
To all you losers below, it may not be a Liberal conspiracy at all. Maybe Rath is just a scumbag thief.
The Librrals did that to Freedom Convoy yoo in 2022!! Liberals are crooks and communist! They have a huge ego and have been in “power” too long!!
wow global news. way to leave out the fact (for those who will take this as a sole source (for their obvious rasism)) that it was RBC (the new trustee) that brought forward the fraud that had happened to the trust. Rath had already been told by the courts that the fee he was charging (20% of the settlement) was over the top and to give it back. only for him to transfer those funds to a personal account, which is why they were frozen.
Nonsense.
liberal government should be investigated
this is proof of how corrupt the liberal government is .does not show me otherwise
This is a smear campaign against Rath by FNs, Carney, , Nenshi, and eastern Canadian socialists who don’t like the Alberta Independence movement.
Another dirty RAT. Oops, I meant Rath.
This seems like spiteful backlash, trying to add increased friction to the Alberta independence movement. This was a desperate play by the Liberals trying to instill fear to the separatists, but its just going to further motivate the cause to end Ottawa’s greedy corruption.