Yellowknife (Sep 01/04) - Following years of acrimony and a lengthy court battle, a slate of candidates expelled from the North Slave Metis Alliance nearly six years ago emerged victorious in elections held over the weekend.

Bill Enge elected vice-president

Sholto Douglas claimed the presidency of the alliance, outdistancing his brother and former president North Douglas. Bill Enge was elected vice-president, beating out rivals Fred Turner and Eddie Mercredi.

Expelled from the alliance in 1998, the pair launched a costly court challenge to regain their membership in the multi-million-dollar organization that represents Metis in the North Slave.

Saturday's court ordered election saw Douglas and Enge easily win their posts, capturing over 60 per cent of the vote, Enge said.

"I think we have been given a clear mandate by members of the alliance," Enge said on Monday. "We could not be more pleased with the result."

Part of that mandate is ending a series of lawsuits that have "plagued" the alliance, Enge said.

"We pledged to put an end to these lawsuits and move forward," he said. "The membership wanted a change."

Enge and Douglas, both former alliance executives, said they would immediately abandon a wrongful dismissal suit they launched against the organization.

Enge also said the alliance would look to dispense with a lawsuit against the federal and territorial governments, launched to give the Metis a seat at the Tlicho land claim negotiating table.

Douglas and the new board of directors met Sunday night. He expected to review the organization's financial statements sometime this week.

While Enge isn't sure how much money will be left in the alliance's coffers -- former secretary Fred Turner told Yellowknifer the organization has spent more than $2 million fighting the assortment of lawsuits -- he expects a "rosy" balance sheet.

"Hopefully there will be enough money there to respond to the needs of our members," he said.

The alliance executive, which includes newly appointed secretary treasurer Mark Whitford, will spend the next couple of days acquainting themselves with the organization, said Douglas.

They'll then tackle longstanding issues including resource-revenue sharing, establishing an impact and benefits agreement with DeBeers over the Snap Lake diamond mine, and asserting their own land claims.

"We've been divided for too long," said Enge. "There is a lot of work to be done."