Long-time vice-chief elected to head up FSIN

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After serving as a vice-chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) for almost a decade, Lawrence Joseph has been elected as the organization's chief.

Joseph was first elected as the FSIN's fourth vice-chief in 1997. His election as chief took place during the fall election assembly held in Saskatoon on Oct. 24 and 25.

It took two ballots for Joseph to be declared victor over Alphonse Bird and Delbert Wapass, the other two candidates vying for the post. Bird was the incumbent, having been elected as chief in 2003. Wapass had held the post of third vice-chief and had also been elected to the position in 2003.

Joseph received the most votes on the first ballot, but not the 50 per cent of the total votes plus one needed before he could be declared the winner. Joseph received 309, Bird had 269 and Wapass earned 240. Wapass, as the third-place finisher, was dropped from the second ballot.

The second round of voting saw Joseph receive 465 votes to Bird's 348, giving Joseph enough support to take the win.

In the election for first vice-chief, incumbent Morley Watson was challenged by Larry Oakes and Eric Tootoosis. Watson had no problem retaining his place on the executive, earning the win after the first ballot. Tootoosis received 57 votes, Oakes 300 and Watson, 451.

"I'm very happy to have the honour of serving our people. It's always an honour to be selected," Watson said. "They had many good candidates to choose from, and if they choose you they've placed a lot of trust and confidence in you and certainly that's got to be one of the highest honours in First Nations country that one can receive. It was a good election. All 15 candidates were very respectful of each other at all times and that says a lot not only about the candidates themselves, but about the whole process that we have in place. It was great to be a part of it."

Three candidates vied for the position of third vice-chief. On the first ballot, Wayne Ahenakew received 303 votes, Glen Pratt received 294 and Lindsay Cyr received 209. On the second ballot, Ahenakew received 382 and Pratt received 428, giving Pratt the victory.

"I'm very excited about it," Pratt said, "I'm looking forward to working in a particular area and doing whatever I can to move some of our social issues into a better position than what we're in now."

While an election for the position of fourth vice-chief wasn't scheduled to take place for another two years, Joseph's decision to run for chief left the executive post vacant, so a byelection was held to fill the spot.

Six candidates ran in the byelection-Allan Adam, Lyle Daniels, George Morin, Ted Quewezance, Daryl Watson, and Lyle Whitefish. Daniels and George were dropped after the first ballot, and Adam was dropped after the second ballot. The third ballot saw Watson with 109 votes, Quewezance with 203 and Whitefish with 252. The race was set to go to a fourth ballot when Quewezance and Watson conceded to Whitefish.

"I just want to thank the supporters and the candidates that ran in the fourth position," Whitefish said. "It was very rewarding to know them. They're a very intelligent, very energetic group of men. I also want to acknowledge Chief Darryl Watson and Ted Quewezance for their being very honourable men. I'm going to work very hard to fulfill the obligations of my office and then try to bring a positive view in all aspects of the FSIN."

At the beginning of November, the portfolio assignments for the new executive were hammered out. As chief, Joseph will chair the executive and the Indian Government Commission and will represent Saskatchewan as a regional chief with the Assembly of First Nations. Joseph will also take on responsibility for the treaty governance process and international affairs, the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, the First Nations Women's Commission, Indigenous gaming regulations, the Veteran's portfolio and the FSIN Senate.

First Vice-Chief Watson's new portfolio assignmnts include economic and employment development, housing and public works and gaming jurisdiction. Prior to the election, his portfolio responsibilities had included education, which put him at the heart of the controversy involving alleged political interference in the running of the First Nations University of Canada.

Second Vice-Chief Guy Lonechild has been given the portfolios of health and social development and urban development. Third Vice-Chief Pratt has been handed the finance and revenue, justice and land and resources portfolio. Fourth Vice-Chief Whitefish will be responsible for the portfolios of education and human resource development and culture, youth, sports and recreation.