The new act will govern the next band elections set for March 2020. (file photo/paNOW Staff)

By Derek Cornet

New rules

Majority of LLRIB voters in favour of new Election Act

Aug 21, 2019 | 5:07 PM

There’s a new Lac La Ronge Indian Band (LLRIB) Election Act after more than 70 per cent of eligible voters decided to do away with the old one.

That’s according to the LLRIB Chief Tammy Cook-Searson who stated the band had been working to make changes to the Election Act since 2006. During the last election, she said some people were unhappy with the regulations that were implemented, which motivated council to bring potential changes to members for a vote. Meetings in regards to the Election Act were held in all six LLRIB communities and Cook-Searson noted more than 100 recommendation were taken into consideration.

“Thank you very much to all the people who participated in the process and we want to thank the staff and team of people who went to all the Treaty Days to ensure people voted,” she said. “We mailed out a copy of the new proposed Election Act to every household we had addresses for. We had people also go door-to-door handing out the proposed Election Act. The majority of the people should have a copy of it.”

The new act includes provisions that deal with conflicts of interest, criminal records, definitions, eligibility, residency requirements for chief and council, and the creation of an elections tribunal to oversee the election process. Cook-Searson stated some changes to run for council include having no criminal record for the previous five years, as well as being debt-free to the band.

“The tribunal will be selected from our community members, then the tribunal will decide on who the electoral officer will be,” she said.

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Voting hours will also be extended and there will now be an appeals committee to implement an appeals process if needed. If there was an appeal after an election in the past, the electoral officer would either be a former LLRIB chief or the chief of another First Nation who would make their decision alone.

The new act will govern the next LLRIB election scheduled for March 2020.

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derek.cornet@jpbg.ca

Twitter: @saskjourno