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LIIDLII KUE/FORT SIMPSON
The Fort Simpson election has brought a new wave of members to the village council while still holding on to some of the old.

On Monday, residents voted in first-time councillors Larry Campbell, Leah Keats and Renalyn Pascua-Matte along with incumbents Marie Lafferty, Ron McCagg, Stella Nadia, Tom Wilson and Robert Hanna.

A fresh-faced Campbell took the wealth of the support with 144 votes, McCagg followed with 129 votes and Keats took 127 votes.

"I'm a little surprised that I did get the highest number," said Campbell. "Had I known I had that much support, I would have went for mayor. No not really. I think Sean is doing a wonderful job."

Residents have already approached Campbell to not only congratulate him, but also to bring up some issues they want solved.

Campbell said he has plans to focus on upgrading the village's current facilities.

"There is no sense in lobbying for new things when we have old things that are breaking down," he said, adding he wants to see improvements to the recreation centre in particular.

"I went in there to cast my vote and just look around. The gym itself looks run down so I think we need a better maintenance plan, perhaps a preventative maintenance plan put in place."

The council should also look at reviewing existing programs and creating new ones that are tailored to the community's needs, Campbell said. Groups should be approached for input, he added. Campbell said he plans to shine a spot-light on the Wild Rose neighbourhood as well. There have been a number of improvements to the roads and sidewalks in Fort Simpson but all the work was downtown, he said. The subdivisions need work too, Campbell added.

Meanwhile, Pascua-Matte wants to see more construction done on the highways leading to Fort Simpson. She said she feels better roads will encourage more tourists to visit and more outsiders would create more business.

"If we have the nice roads then everything will have a spinoff effect," she said.

Pascua-Matte said she will also be encouraging council to look into developing more community activities for youth along with infrastructure, such as the swimming pool.

"There are a lot of kids that are kind of not properly guided in a way that they tend to vandalize public and private properties because there is nothing for them to do," Pascua-Matte said.

The new councillor said she hopes to bring a fresh perspective to the council and shake things up a bit. It's great to have a mix of new and previous councillors, she said, adding she is excited to be working with everyone.

"It's a good diversity of view and opinions," Pascua-Matte said.

Keats said she too is ready to get down to business and expects she will learn a lot from the more experienced members.

"I figure I'll probably spend the first six months sitting, listening, asking a lot of questions," Keats said.

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