Fort Liard (June 06/03) - Citing too much infighting, Chief Floyd Bertrand may be ready to dissolve chief and council mid-way through his term.

On Monday he said he was seeking clarification on the conditions for an early election.

"There's so much animosity within the council," he said. "With that in mind it seems like a very unstable leadership. An unstable leadership is dangerous too."

He said the majority of council and Acho Dene Koe membership seem to agree that going to the polls soon would be beneficial.

However, Coun. Joanne Deneron said an early election cannot be called at the chief's discretion -- that decision rests with band membership, she contended.

"It has to be done through the community," said Deneron.

She acknowledged that internal strife is hampering ADK council.

"There is too much bickering," she said. "We're wasting all this energy on negativism ... We have to look at the big picture. What kind of example do we set for the youth when we're sitting here hassling about that?"

According to Bertrand, one of the issues raised by band members is chief and councillors abusing their positions. He didn't give any examples.

Outside of that, he acknowledged that there are numerous other troubles, but he said "I can't be specific."

Bertrand, a rookie politician, was elected in a landslide victory in May 2002. If an election is called, he said, he's not sure whether he'll run again.

On the upside, in the first year of his mandate, Bertrand said, he and council have been able to create scholarships. He added that there has been some progress on forestry initiatives, which would decrease the community's dependence on seasonal oil and gas jobs.