
Mike Lebourdais has been reelected Chief of the Whispering Pines/ Clinton Indian Band.
It’s a two year mandate, after the band’s election was held yesterday.
Lebourdais says leading a group that is looking to buy a majority share in the Trans Mountain pipeline is high on his priority list.
But so is a cultural aspect of reforming electoral membership.
“How people apply to become Whispering Pines/ Clinton Indian Band members. There’s supposed to be a ceremony when you include persons who are transferring in, so we do a blanketing ceremony to protect them and make them one of our own. We’re getting large where we can start having these ceremonies, and we need to have these ceremonies so that everybody understands what we’re trying to accomplish.”
Lebourdais says council is looking to now adopt its own election code that would make the next election for a three- or four-year term.
The dates would be changed as well to align with either the Simpcw First Nation or Tk’emlúps te Secwepemc, to try and get a higher rate of participation.
“So we get a little bit of congruence, and quite frankly get our elections out of February. The last five or six elections have been in the beginning of February, and as we know here in Kamloops it snows pretty hard on Groundhog Day. So we’re looking forward to moving it to a spring or a fall election.”
He says about 107 people voted, out of the band’s total membership of about 180 people. The band also elected two councillors, those being Ed Lebourdais and Jack Bones.