Dene national chief challenged
Court worker Harold Cook challenges incumbent Bill Erasmus
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Thursday, July 2, 2015
INUVIK
Saying it's time for a change, Harold Cook has announced that he will be taking on long-time Dene National Chief Bill Erasmus who has often won his seat without a challenger to oppose him.
Erasmus was first elected to the position by acclimation in 1987, then again in 1989 and in 1991. By 1997, he had been acclaimed four times in all and has since been acclaimed in 2012.
He has served as the national chief since then except for a three-year span from 2003 to 2006 when he was the Assembly of First Nations regional chief. That position was combined with the Dene national chief in 2006. He was last challenged in 2009 according Lynda Comerford, election returning officer.
"There are some changes that need to be made and addressed including the price of groceries," Cook said. The 65-year-old said he also thinks that dealing with drug and alcohol abuse is a high priority as well.
"The Government of the Northwest Territories made $44 million from the sale of alcohol last year, yet they closed the only drug and alcohol treatment facility in the territory on the Hay River Reserve."
At least two of Cook's jobs have shown him just how harmful alcohol has been in the Dene community. He is in court serving as a witness co-ordinator with the Public Prosecution Service of Canada. He was also a guard at the North Slave Correctional Centre.
"So many cases that sent people to jail were alcohol-related," Cook said.
But his knowledge about alcohol abuse also comes from first-hand experience.
"I was on the streets for four years and I was a drunk and I caused embarrassment to myself and my family," Cook said. "But I am an example that sobriety is possible. I have not had a drink since Aug. 7, 1977. That's 38 years ago. I'm very proud of the fact that my kids and my grandkids have never seen me drunk."
His nomination papers were signed by band chiefs from the Sahtu region. Cook himself is originally from the Sahtu, having been raised in Fort Good Hope where he has served as a member of the First Nation's band council in 2005. If elected, he said his job is to represent all the chiefs of the NWT.
"I need to be there when those chiefs want me to be. The chiefs are the boss - they are my board of directors," Cook said.
As for Erasmus, he welcomes the competition and the dialogue it will bring with it.
"It makes us talk about the issues and have people come forward," he said. "It keeps all of us honest and it's part of the process we have designed."
Part of the reason he is running again is because there is still unfinished business on his plate, Erasmus said.
"The whole issue of implementing treaty and aboriginal rights and our inherent right to self-government. We're a long way from that and that is one of the main focuses," he said.
Erasmus also said he has tremendous respect for Cook, both as a friend and as an opponent.
"I think what people have to do now is take a good look at us and decide who they think would be the best person to be in this job," Erasmus said.
The election will be held on July 22 during the 45th Dene National Assembly in Deline. In 2006, voters included the 29 chiefs and three delegates from their respective communities with additional delegates permitted based on a community's population.
Attempts to contact the elections officer to find out whether that same procedure will be followed in this round did not end in a call back by press time.
