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Incumbent chief wins re-election

Clint Williams starts third term of office

Tla’amin (Sliammon) First Nation Chief Clint Williams was re-elected to his third term on Saturday, September 15.

Williams won with 206 votes, 48.6 per cent of the vote and 48 more votes than John Steven Hackett, who came second with 158 votes. A third candidate for chief, Vern Pielle, had 60 votes.

“It was pretty intense,” said Williams. “This election really started way back in May leading up to the first attempt at the treaty vote.”

Opponents of the treaty blockaded the Sliammon Salish Centre on June 16, preventing community members from casting ballots. The vote was rescheduled to July 10 and a majority voted in favour of the final agreement.

There is a strong majority on council that supports treaty. “It’s very reassuring to see the confidence that the people had in the council these past two years,” said Williams. “I’m very glad to see that. I wasn’t sure how that was going to be after the treaty vote. I really wondered what people were thinking.”

There were 31 candidates running for 10 positions on council.

Incumbent councillors Gloria Francis, Dillon Johnson, Eugene Louie, Walter Paul, Bruce Point and Denise Smith were re-elected. Joining them are Hackett and Pielle, who also ran for a council position, and Larry Louie.

Williams also successfully ran for a council position for the second consecutive time. He said he has the ability to attend council meetings as a councillor, if needed to have a quorum. “If I start the meeting as a councillor, I can’t switch back to chief,” he explained, adding he has to stay in the role in which he started the meeting.

While Tla’amin has ratified the treaty, both the federal and provincial governments have to ratify it as well. Williams said parliament isn’t expected to consider the treaty until the fall of 2013.

Last week, BC government officials announced there would not be a fall session of the legislature. Williams said that means the province won’t ratify the treaty until the legislature sits again, which is expected to be in February.

He’s not surprised by the timeframe, Williams said, because the federal government “really dragged their heels” on approving the final agreement reached by negotiators. “We went through all this grief, now we still have to continue to wait,” he said. “It’s very frustrating from that end.”

However, there is a lot of preparation work that has to take place, Williams added. One of the major initiatives is setting up Tla’amin’s own government. Williams said one provision he wants to see addressed is the term of office. “These two years fly by so quickly, it’s very tough to get things accomplished,” he said.

Overall, he’s “very happy” with the election results, Williams said. “It’s great to be back for another two years to try finish off some of the work.”