Shooting draws blanks

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Lac la Biche RCMP are no closer to discovering who fired a bullet at the home of Emil Cardinal, former Metis Nation vice-president candidate, says an RCMP spokesman.

Stephane Jac says RCMP have made no arrests in the Nov. 19 incident in which a shot was fired into Cardinal's Lac la Biche trailer home.

Cardinal's wife Beverly and daughter Florence were home at the time of the shooting but were not hurt when the .22 caliber bullet entered the front of the trailer and ricocheted into the master bedroom where it became lodged in the wall.

Cardinal said at the time the shooting may have "something to do with his court case against the Metis Nation."

Cardinal filed a statement of claim Oct. 12 challenging the results of the Sept. 4 election, which saw him lose the Zone 1 vice-president position by three votes. Cardinal claims the bylaws and rules of the Metis Nation were breached when ineligible voters were allowed to cast ballots. Cardinal also said he wouldn't let the shooting scare him into dropping his case.

Metis Nation president Larry Desmeules said earlier the shooting "has nothing to do with the case. We don't even care about it. It has no effect on us."

Cardinal says his neighbor saw a man outside the trailer, who fled in a black and silver pickup truck when the neighbor tried to talk to him. The name of the witness is being withheld.

The RCMP doesn't have a description of the suspect. Their investigation continues.