New Chief of Tsuu T'ina elected

Roy Whitney has been elected Chief of the Tsuu T'ina Nation defeating Sandford Big Plume.

Results have been tabulated in the 2012 Chief and Council election at the Tsuu T'ina Nation, according to a release from the First Nation. Polls closed at 8:00 p.m. Monday.

Debate around a new ring road deal and ways to increase economic development were key issues during the election.

The last time band members rejected a deal to build the freeway through their lands bordering the city’s southwest edge it was June 2009 and many of the political players who drafted it are long gone. Now with a new provincial government, a new city mayor, and the several new faces on the Tsuu T’ina council, talks toward a new ring road deal could have a completely different tone.

Roy Whitney has been Chief of Tsuu T'ina several times previously.