Three northern Indian bands head for the polls

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Members of three northern Indian bands, who will be voting for their community leaders within the next few weeks, will follow different rules.

The Saddle Lake First Nation has scheduled the election of nine tribal councillors for Sept. 24, while the nearby Goodfish Lake band will hold elections for four councillors Oct. 6. The Whitefish Lake band, near High Prairie, will hold a by-election for two vacant councillor positions, Sept. 30.

Saddle Lake, which follows its customary election procedures, will have 31 people vying for the nine councillor positions. On Oct. 8, a general election will be held to select the Tribal Chief.

Three former Chiefs, Eugene Houle, Henry Quinney and Eugene Steinhauer are in the running for the three year term of office, sources say.

Steinhauer and his council were removed from office in 1985, after a petition had been circulated. Voters then elected Houle and others to complete the Council term ending this year.

Election rules, obtained from Herb Cardinal, Chief Electoral Officer, state that qualified candidates must be recognized band members, who are at least 21 years old, who live on the reserve and have no criminal convictions. Councillor candidates require both a nominator and a seconder. Eligible voters are recognized band members who are at least 21 years-old, and band members who live off the reserve. But people reinstated under Bill C-31 are not permitted to vote because Saddle Lake has their own band membership codes.

Results of the election will be published in next week's Windspeaker.

The Goodfish Lake band, located north of Saddle Lake, will see 11 candidates contesting four councillor positions Oct. 6. A general election for their Tribal Chief, from the four successful candidates, will follow on Oct. 20.

Goodfish Lake which also follows tribal customary law, elects their Chief and Council for a three year term. Nominations for candidate closed Sept. 16.

Candidates and voters must be band members, who are at least 21-years-old and who live on the reserve. Only students living off the reserve will be allowed to vote and reinstated Bill C-31 members who live on the reserve can vote also.

The Whitefish Lake band, located northwest of Slave Lake, will follow the Indian Act regulations for band elections when they hold a by-election for two vacant councillor positions, Sept. 30. Two councillors, resigned recently in order to spend more time with their personal and family lives, say band officials.

Voting will take place at the community hall, where electors will chose from eight candidates.

The last election took place in January, when 250 voters, cast their votes for a two year term of the eight member Tribal Council.

Indian Act band election rules require the electors and the Council candidates to be at least 18-years-old and to be residing on the reserve for at least six months, said band member Eddy Tallman.

Members wanting to be candidates need one nominator and a seconder. However, a person can run for both Councillor and Chief positions, if nominated.

The Whitefish Lake band submitted a membership code June 30, but Indian Affairs since has added reinstated Indians to their band list, said Tallman. However, because reinstated people do not fill the six-month requirement, they are not eligible to vote.

Indian Affairs will not be involved in the by-election. The band is affiliated with the Lesser Slave Lake Regional Council and runs its own programs, including elections.

Dave Willier of the Reserves and Trust department, Lesser Slave Lake Regional Council, is the Chief Electoral Officer.

Whitefish Lake band has a total population of 852 with about 500 members living on the reserve.