Roxanna Thompson
Northern News Services
Published Monday, June 02, 2008

ACHO DENE KOE/FORT LIARD - All members of the Dehcho First Nations could have a direct vote on who will be the next grand chief.

The process that will be used to elect the next grand chief was one of the topics of discussion at the spring leadership meeting held in Fort Liard from May 14 to 16. Most of the speakers at the meeting supported holding a regional election, said Jerry Antoine, the current grand chief.

During the meeting a resolution was passed to appoint the Dehcho First Nations' (DFN) executive as an elections committee. The executive, along with legal counsel, will be reviewing all previous research, resolutions and discussions that refer to a regional election. The executive will then make a recommendation at the annual assembly on how the process should proceed, said Antoine.

The current practice is to elect a grand chief for a three-year term at the annual assembly. This year's annual assembly is being held in Kakisa from June 22 to 29.

Holding a regional election is an idea that has been discussed for awhile, said Chief Keyna Norwegian of the Liidlii Kue First Nation in Fort Simpson.

As early as approximately 2004 it was suggested the grand chief at the time look into how an election could be held, said Norwegian, who is also a member of the executive.

No work was done on the matter at the time but the question was put to the DFN membership as part of a survey.

"It was strongly suggested a regional election be held," she said.

"If that's what the people want they have to be accommodated somehow."

The role of the six members of the executive council, seven including the grand chief, is to examine the logistics of how a regional election could be held, said Norwegian. The cost of such an election is one of the factors to be examined because it's expected to be high, she said.

The executive will be looking at ways to cut the expenses including having election stations in each band office, said Norwegian. The members of the executive expect to spend a considerable amount of time examining the options before making a recommendation at the annual assembly, she said.

In addition to a regional election, another idea implemented at the meeting was the creation of a think tank.

Before officially starting the meeting delegates spent May 13 in discussions sharing their concerns and opinions. In Slavey the process is called a time to share thoughts, said Grand Chief Jerry Antoine.

"It's a healthy exercise," said Antoine.

The think tank gave leaders, elders, youth and community members a chance to raise any thoughts, concerns or goals they have. The session provided an opportunity to clarify potential issues that are confronting the DFN, he said.

"It cleared up some uncertainties," said Antoine.

One common theme was communication and the relationships the communities have with each other and with DFN, Antoine said. Work needs to be done on the relationships and DFN has to provide its membership with more information on its various initiatives, he said.

How DFN is going to move forward in negotiations with Canada was also a central topic, said Chief Stan Sanguez of the Jean Marie River First Nation.

Discussions included whether or not DFN should accept land selection and if it does how large of an area should be negotiated for. Delegates also talked about the need for the Dehcho Land Use Plan to be implemented, said Sanguez.