Jorge Barrera
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (July 08/02) - The Akaitcho chiefs will be pushing for major reforms within the Dene Nation during a leadership assembly which begins today in Fort Simpson.

In a recent interview with News/North, Akaitcho Chief Richard Edjericon laid out some of the reforms he'd like to see and problems with the Dene Nation.

The Dene Nation leadership meeting begins today and runs until July 15.

Electoral reform is one of the issues that tops the list for Edjericon.

The Akaitcho Nation is proposing a territory wide election for the national chief of the Dene Nation.

Currently, each of the 26 communities appoints delegates who cast votes on behalf of their respective bands.

"We'd like to see every man and woman choose their national chief," said Edjericon, chief of the Yellowknives community of Dettah. "It gives the national chief a stronger mandate."

The mandate of the current chief is something that Edjericon questions.

Since 1993, the Dene Nation has operated with an executive represented by only two out of five regions, said Edjericon.

In 1993, the Sahtu, Dogrib and Gwich'in, left the Dene Nation after a combined Dene-Metis land claim fell apart leaving the Deh Cho and North Slave as the only remaining regions.

The three regions returned in 2000 but two of the three were never formally indicated their return to the organization.

The Dogrib passed an internal motion to return in the fall of that year.

According to the Dene Nation constitution, an executive quorum needs four of the five regions represented.

The executive is comprised of vice-chiefs from each region and makes managerial decisions along with the national chief.

The Akaitcho Nation requested minutes and decisions from executive meetings from 1993 to the present but have not received them, said Edjericon.

"Who has been making decisions?" said Edjericon."There hasn't been a quorum."

The Akaitcho also question the legitimacy of Bill Erasmus' election victory in the summer of 2000.

Documents prepared by the Akaitcho count 126 illegitimate votes to put the incumbent national chief back on top.

Edjericon said all five regions voted in the election but only two were formally part of the Dene Nation.

The 126 votes belonged to the Gwich'in, Dogrib and Sahtu regions.

Erasmus has said the three regions always had the right to return.

"The Dene Nation was always open to their return," said Erasmus in previous interviews.

Back in May the Akaitcho chiefs passed a motion at their own meeting asking for Erasmus' removal.

Edjericon said the Akaitcho would not bring up the motion during this assembly.

But the Dene Nation needs some tuning up, he said.

"When an old vehicle running is rough, you figure out what the problem is," said Edjericon.

"The problem here is that we need a driver and we need to know where we are going to go."

Erasmus has said the Dene Nation is doing all it can with its resources that have shrunk over the last ten years.

In 2000, the Dene Nation budget ran at around $1.8 million. Today it runs at about $1.2 million.

The agenda for this week's meeting leaves extensive room for Dene Nation constitutional reform workshops.

Erasmus is also entering this week's meeting having launched a civil suit against Edjericon's wife and Yellowknives Ndilo Chief Peter Liske's sister-in-law.

Edjericon said Erasmus does not have a mandate to pursue the suit.