Complaints that former Saskatchewan MP Jim Pankiw distributed pamphlets that were racist against aboriginal people more than five years ago will be heard by the Federal Court.

Last month, a tribunal convened under the Canadian Human Rights Act found that pamphlets sent out by Pankiw when he was a member of Parliament fall outside the scope of the Act.

In reaching that conclusion, the tribunal focused on how the newsletters were distributed and did not consider their content.

The individuals who complained about what was written in the pamphlets are appealing the tribunal's decision to the Federal Court.

Pankiw sent out the pamphlets to the constituents of his Saskatoon-Humboldt riding in 2002 and 2003.

The materials, also called householders, included comments that linked some aboriginals with higher crime rates, extortion, terrorism and blackmail.