(Photo: Prince Albert Grand Council website)
First Nations leaders and delegates were in Prince Albert today and yesterday for the Prince Albert Grand Council’s annual assembly.
Yesterday at the assembly, the four candidates running for the PAGC Athabasca Vice Chief position addressed leaders and delegates before voting took place today.
Louie Mercredi, former chief of Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation, Joan Strong of Black Lake Denesuline First Nation, who works as a training and employment coordinator at PAGC, Freda (Colleen) Whitedeer, who is a Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation councilor, and current Vice Chief, Joseph (Smy) Tsannie, were all gunning for the position.
Polls opened at 10 a.m. today and closed at 12 p.m.
The first ballot saw Tsannie receive 108 votes, Mercredi with 94 votes, Strong with 54 votes, and Whitedeer with 18 votes.
A candidate must receive a minimum of 50% of the votes plus one to be elected to the position. There were a total of 277 leaders and delegates voting, so 139 votes were needed to win.
Whitedeer was not included in the second ballot, which saw polls run from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.
For the second count, Tsannie received 134 votes, Mercredi with 122 votes, and Strong with 20 votes.
Once again, a candidate did not receive the minimum amount of 139 votes to win, so polls for a third ballot were open from 5:15 p.m. until 7:15 p.m. Strong was not included in the third ballot.
Results for the third ballot came in just before 8 p.m. Mercredi received a total of 125 votes, and Tsannie received 150 votes, making him the winner.
Tsannie started his career with PAGC in 2004 and was elected as the Vice Chief for Athabasca in 2012. He is now entering his fourth term in the position.