PAGC leadership hopefuls make one final push for votes

Oct 23, 2017 | 8:40 PM

The three men vying to secure leadership of the Prince Albert Grand Council (PAGC) made one final push for delegate votes during the opening day of the group’s annual legislative assembly.

Elmer Ballantyne, from the Montreal Lake Cree Nation, Brian J. Hardlotte from the Lac La Ronge Indian Band, and Charles A. Whitecap from the Shoal Lake Cree Nation are competing to replace outgoing Grand Chief Ron Michel who is retiring after four-decades in politics.

The three candidates each took the podium Monday night to lay out their vision of the future for the grand council. The common themes included the need for better representation of membership around the table, examining treaty rights, and the improvement of education, healthcare and housing.

Whitecap focused heavily on his comprehensive restructuring plans for the PAGC. The reform, he said, would be more than just “window dressing” but “actual changes… to reflect what we need today.”

He said issues at the forefront of many communities — lack of education, healthcare, employment and injustice — need to be met with improved strategic plans. He proposed annual forums for band councillors to attend, discuss the issues at hand, and how best to use the instruments of the PAGC to find solutions.

Further, he stressed the need to gain greater access to higher levels of government, saying “right now, we are locked out.”

“We do not have access to our decision making and we are left at the bottom of the scale,” he said, adding it was important to tackle looming financial issues.

Grand chief hopeful Hardlotte opened his speech by taking direct aim at the “let it burn” forest fire policy and the need “to take it out” of legislation.

He highlighted a necessity to address the many “heartbreaking” issues he encountered while touring the sectors governed by the grand council. Policing, transportation, high costs of living, and support for economic development were a few items on the laundry list of issues he planned to approach head-on.

While thanking those in attendance, Hardlotte said their presence “shows unity” and how “we need to build on that — unity — to do the work for our communities.”

“We are called sovereign nations and we need to have that mindset,” he said. “It can only be implemented by us and we have to build a framework to deal with treaty rights and that sovereignty.”

He expressed frustration at the current Liberal government’s lack of movement on promised funding and said there is a need to “hold the Crown accountable.”

Ballantyne was the last to take the stand and outlined the urgency to encourage youth to pray and engage more in ceremonies. 

He too spoke on the need for unity, saying “we need to come together.”

“I use the word ‘we’ a lot because I believe that no one individual is going to make a major change within this grand council,” he said. “When we speak, people listen to this organization… We need to become a collective voice”

Ballantyne further focused on youth, education and “the need to assess the structure within the grand council” within his speech.

Expanding on the work of the TRC while undertaking addictions, mental health and child welfare concerns, would also be top priorities for Ballantyne. 

“We need to do something to develop a strategy that will help out communities… the elders want to assist in making sure not another life is lost to addictions,” he said. 

Polls at the Senator Allen Bird Memorial Centre open at 10 a.m. and close at noon. Results are expected to roll in around 1 p.m. unless subsequent rounds of voting are required.

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr