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DEH GAH GOT'IE KOE/FORT PROVIDENCE
The new chief of Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation plans to focus and improve the work of the band council over the next two years.

The way the chief, band council and band office work for the people has to be better, said Joachim Bonnetrouge, speaking four days after being elected.

The chief and council often have too much enthusiasm, which leads them to having a scattered approach to the issues, he said.

Bonnetrouge hopes to focus on two or three items or issues that the council could work on for its first year in office and then report the progress they have made.

While visiting band members during the election period, Bonnetrouge said he heard about a number of primary issues that people are concerned about.

The level of unemployment in the community is too high, with plenty of people who want a job. He said that relates to the issue of needing economic development, some activity that will create jobs.

There is also concerns about youth in the community.

The youth need to be concentrated on and worked with more, said Bonnetrouge. Some residents suggested the community needs to pull together and open a new youth centre for the young people or something similar to help them.

At the other end of the age spectrum, there is also a strong sense that the elders still want to play a significant role in helping the band council with governance and in providing guidance, said Bonnetrouge. With the assistance of Dehcho First Nations, Bonnetrouge would like to see the community elders council formalized and funded so it can meet regularly.

"There's definitely some areas where we need the elders," he said listing history, land use and traditional values as some examples.

On the topic of regional issues, Bonnetrouge said there has to be an end date put on the Dehcho Process negotiations.

"We cannot go on and on and on and on," he said.

Bonnetrouge was elected on July 15 with 117 votes. The other candidates for chief included Berna Landry, Wayne Sabourin and Greg Nyuli.

"It was quite humbling," he said, about the band members' choice.

Bonnetrouge said he really wants to begin working to earn the trust that was placed in him and the new council for two years.

"The chief and council have to work on what we really mean by accountability to the membership," he said.

Bonnetrouge said he and the council will also have to show forthrightness and transparency in the things they do and the decisions that are made.

Bonnetrouge isn't a stranger to being chief or working with the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation.

"It seemed like I was always working for the band," he said.

When he was approximately 22, the chief at the time asked Bonnetrouge to work for him and write letters to what is now the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada office in Yellowknife.

Since that time, Bonnetrouge has served as a band councillor and also served about five terms as chief, the first being in approximately 1986 and the most recent being between June 2009 and Sept. 2011.

Bonnetrouge has also been involved in a number of regional initiatives including nine years with the Residential School Healing Project.

Bonnetrouge is also currently the chair of the Dehcho Land Use Planning Committee. The newly elected chief said he plans to step down as chair now that he will be driving direction to the committee as the head of the Deh Gah Got'ie First Nation.

Bonnetrouge said the mix of newer and more experienced councillors that now make up the band council following the election looks promising. Everyone, new and old, brings different experiences and skills, he said.

"I look forward to good discussions," he said.

Bonnetrouge also called for the community to draw together and support the new council, regardless of how they cast their vote during the election.

What is best for the membership and the community has to be the focus, he said.

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