Political Career
Courchene was Chief of the Fort Alexander Indian Band during the 1980s. The community's name was later changed to the Sagkeeng First Nation.
In 1984, Courchene and the Sagkeeng Band Council refused an order from the Canada Labour Relations Board to reinstate four teachers who were fired for engaging in union activities. Justice Paul Rouleau of the Federal Court of Canada found Courchene and the other councillors in contempt of court for their decision, remarking that he had seldom seen such brazen contempt for authority. The band council was fined $15,000, and Courchene was fined $5,000. Newspaper accounts do not indicate if the sentence was appealed.
Courchene served as acting chairman of the First Nations Confederacy in 1987. He welcomed a report from the Coopers & Lybrand Consulting Group, which found that federal Indian Affairs officials deliberately ignored regulations for expenditure controls in Manitoba.
The Department of Indian Affairs took over Fort Alexander's programs and finances later in the same year, arguing that the band was at least $1.2 million in debt. Courchene had previously rejected a plan to devolve oversight powers to a committee with federal and band representatives.
In 1989, Courchene argued that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police spent too much time patrolling his territory. A local RCMP official denied that his department was profiling Fort Alexander residents, and said that officers generally entered the reserve in response to calls for assistance. Courchene was succeeded as chief by Jerry Fontaine later in the same year.
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