INUVIK
There are some new faces at the Gwich'in Tribal Council leadership table following an election June 27.

Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan ousted incumbent president James Wilson for his seat and Jordan Peterson claimed the title of vice-president over three other candidates.

"My first priority is taking things to the communities," Greenland-Morgan, 39, told the Inuvik Drum. "It's very important that we start at the grassroots level. Although we're all the same people, we don't all know each other."

She said the news was still sinking in but that she remains confident in her own abilities as well as the network of former leaders who have reached out to show their support.

Greenland-Morgan is the first woman to ever hold the office of GTC president, though there have been several female vice-presidents. She said that while some men had encouraged her to run for vice-president as a "strategic" move, she was pleased to have stuck to her goals.

"I think having a female leader will bring new life to the GTC," she said. "It will be a different perspective."

Greenland-Morgan and Peterson, 29, will not take office until the annual general assembly in Inuvik at the end of August. Both are already immersed in orientations and conversations with the outgoing leaders and administration.

She is encouraging people to remain patient and trust in the transition process. She also said she expects the outgoing officials to maintain the status quo in the meantime.

"I expect out current leadership to not do anything with the (self-government) AIP until the new leadership comes in," she said.

Greenland-Morgan had said she did not think the Gwich'in people were ready for self-government at an all-candidates forum last week.

"I said no, and I stand by that," she said. "We need to get all our communities up to the same level and have a good understanding of it all before we move forward."

Greenland-Morgan garnered 454 votes, compared to 290 for challenger Jozef Carnogursky and 273 for the incumbent Wilson.

On the vice-president ticket, Peterson received 442 votes to be elected while Bridget Larocque came in second with 363. Wilbert Firth was third with 117 votes and William Koe received 81 votes.

Chief returning officer Mary Ann Ross declared the winners. However the results released June 28 are considered preliminary.

This was the first year the Gwich'in Tribal Council conducted its election online but the move intended to increase voter turnout did not have the desired effect. Only about 37 per cent of the electorate participated this time around, compared to a record turnout of about 50 per cent in 2012.

The total number of eligible voters on the list is 2,746 people, Ross said.

She said 2,729 ballots were mailed out - because 17 people do not have addresses on file with the tribal council - and 1,026 people cast a ballot.

Still, the comment section of the online process indicated the change in procedure was generally appreciated.

Ross said from her review, the overall sentiment was that the online voting system was convenient and easy, although some commenters asked that more information on each candidate be provided on the voting site itself.

"Obviously they got the youth vote," said Ross, noting that the winning candidates are younger than their predecessors. "I think it was the youth that really gravitated towards the new voting system."

While there were some troubles with Internet outages during the morning of June 27, Ross said they were dealt with by about lunch time. Slightly less than half of those who voted cast their ballot before election day but Ross said it was good to see the majority of people wait until the day, allowing them to better understand the candidates' platforms and make an informed choice.

Neither Greenland-Morgan nor Peterson returned calls for comment before press time, citing a desire to wait to see if the results were being appealed.

The deadline for appeals was noon June 28.

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