Joe Alphonse has been re-elected as Chief of Tl’etinqox (Anaham) First Nation with 164 votes.
Runner-up Leslie Stump received 78 votes.
This will be Alphonse’s sixth consecutive term as chief for Tl’etinqox, something he said he could never have imagined when he was elected the first time.
“I’m excited, humbled and honoured,” he said Tuesday morning, adding the terms in office are still for two years as Tl’etinqox is still under Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada for its election code. “We put in a lot of hours and it was a tough term. The 2017 wildfires had a big role to play and really put our community behind by delaying projects.”
Voters went to the polls on Monday, Feb. 18 and by 12:59 a.m. Tuesday Alphonse learned he had won.
“I got up to get a drink of water and half way through drinking it I got a message telling me ‘congratulations.”
The election also saw 12 councillors elected with the addition of four new ones.
Elected in order of votes received were George Mack, Cecil Grinder, Tyron Harry, Leslie Stump, Harvey Dick, Dale Hance, Ashton Harry, Blaine Grinder, Isidore Harry, Eleanor Cooper, Gerald Johnny and Brendan Harry.
“We lost some strong candidates but have gained some good new ones,” Alphonse said. “Two are completely new, but sometimes you need that youthful energy because it helps move things forward.”
There are only two women councillors now — a mother and daughter — and Alphonse said he would have liked to see more elected.
Eyeing this next term, Alphonse said he is eager to continue with planning work already in place.
“We should have had a new gas bar a year ago.”
A referendum will take place in the near future where the community will vote on whether to designate a parcel of land as commercial zone, which he said is a requirement under Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada.
“Once that land is designated then we can develop the new gas bar, which is long overdue. A new gas bar will enhance our business opportunities and bring it up to a standard that’s equivalent to others. Every place where we can add two or three new employees is a good thing.”
The community has also been approved to build a six-plex Elders residence. Construction of it is scheduled to begin in the summer.
Tl’etinqox is one of six Tsilhqot’in communities located west of the Fraser River that make up the Tsilhqot’in Nation.
Alphonse also serves as the Tsilhqot’in National Government’s tribal chair.
Earlier Monday, Xeni Gwet’in (Nemiah Valley) Chief Jimmy Lulua posted on Facebook that a team of Tsilqhot’in chiefs and representatives is in Ottawa this week meeting with federal government representatives to work on a transformative change agreement for the Tsilhqot’in Nation and a declared title agreement.
The new band council will have its first official meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 20 and a celebration will be determined at a later date.
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