The former chief of the Sipekne’katik First Nation in Nova Scotia is facing assault charges in two separate cases.
Michael Patrick Sack, 42, is charged with aggravated assault for allegedly wounding another man at or near Saulnierville, N.S. on October 28, 2023.
Sack’s defence lawyer, Mark Bailey, appeared on his behalf in Digby Provincial Court before Judge Timothy Landry on Jan. 2. Bailey requested an adjournment to give crown attorney David Curry more time to provide him with full disclosure of documents.
Sack’s next scheduled court appearance in Digby is Feb. 1.
Sack and his son, 20-year-old Michael Patrick Sack, Jr., are also charged with allegedly assaulting three men in Halifax on April 16, 2023.
Lawyers for Sack and his son entered not guilty pleas on behalf of their clients in Halifax Provincial Court on Nov. 7, 2023.
Their trial is scheduled for Oct. 15 in Halifax.
More charges for Sack in Truro Provincial Court
Sack is also facing charges of mischief, theft under $5,000 and uttering threats of violence following an incident at a residence in Fort Ellis, N.S. on March 16, 2023.
Sack’s lawyer entered not guilty pleas on his behalf in Truro Provincial Court on September 13, 2023.
His trial for those charges is scheduled for June 5 in Truro Provincial Court.
Sack was first elected chief of Sipekne’katik First Nation in 2016 after serving several terms as a councillor. He was re-elected as chief in 2018 and 2020.
As chief, Sack launched Sipekne’katik’s moderate livelihood fishery in Sept. 2020 in Saulnierville, N.S. The launch immediately led to confrontations in St. Mary’s Bay, on wharves in Saulnierville and Weymouth and at a nearby lobster pound between non-Indigenous fishers and Sipekne’katik fishers.
Sack lost his re-election bid in Nov. 2022 when councillor Michelle Glasgow was elected as chief.
