Fond du Lac Denesuline First Nation elects new chief mbcradio.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mbcradio.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Emotions are high at Fond Du Lac First Nation (FDLFN) as the community awaits confirmation that a newly scheduled election may actually take place. Meanwhile there’s fresh concern the election may still get tied up in the courts.
Notice that Friday’s scheduled election was being postponed was announced on Jan. 22. Chief Electoral Officer Derek McDonald provided no explanation in his social media post, only saying it was for a reason beyond his control.
paNOW has since learned the reason may have been due to a motion filed to the Federal Court of Appeal requesting an interim injunction of the election. The applicants for the motion were Gerald Felix McDonald, one of five candidates for Chief, and Mark Pacquette, one of the nineteen people running for the six council seats.
Treaty 8
One of the controversial issues leading up to this month’s election is the disbursement of the band’s Treaty 8 funds.
In April, 2018, the Canadian Government reached a $177 million settlement with Black Lake and Fond du Lac. The Treaty included a clause that allowed the signing bands to collect agricultural benefits, ammunition, and twine from the Crown.
Community members eventually voted on a plan to take a payment of $15,000 each. Theriault said he didn’t like the way the process was handled.
“I knew damn well they could not get 90 per cent votes from Fond Du Lac. The reason being is a majority of the population are spread out all over Canada,” he said.