Results of the Lheidli T’enneh election revealed that Dominick Frederick would retain his position as band chief.
Frederick, who’s held the title with the First Nations group since 2004, won with 63.5% of the vote, and says he’s grateful for the community’s support.
“We had a 65% vote of participation from the community, and I also thank my family and my wife for their support. The volume of voters that have voted for me have spoken in regards to what they wanted.”
He beat out Vanessa West by 77 votes, who only collected 28% of the ballot.
Moving forward, Chief Frederick says he’d like to make more room for the community to grow, and to make the band socially stronger.
“We’re trying to build capacity within our community and building for the future so that our members are ready for the future. We also have purchased the community building downtown so that way we can have a venue to have community meetings.”
He adds a gas station will be opening at the end of the month for band members as well as the public.
The election took place all day Wednesday ending at 8PM with a total of 215 voters casting their ballot on the Chief’s seat.
#LheidliTenneh Chief Frederick won with 65% of the vote; results came after 8PM on Wednesday by Loreen Suhr & Associates Consulting @mypgnow pic.twitter.com/JDrlqCKBAl
— Kyle Balzer (@KyleBalzer) April 13, 2017