Alvin Orlias to resign as Colville Lake chief

Only seventeen months after his election, Alvin Orlias is resigning from his position as chief of Colville Lake, N.W.T.

Orlias was elected chief of the BehdziAhdaFirst Nation in 2013, replacing Richard Kochon, who had held the position for nearly a decade. He had previously served the small N.W.T. community population approximately 150 as a band councillor.

Orliasreturned to his job as plant superintendent with the Northwest Territories Power Corporation in October of 2014, and cites the difficulty of balancing his public position with a full-time job as his reason for resigning.

"It was getting too much," he says. "It was starting to stressme out, starting to affect my family life.

"So Idecided that, after talking with my wife, that maybe I should step down. It deserves more than I can give it right now. It deserves 100 percent of a person's time."

Sub-chief Ryan Kochon will act as chief in Orlias' place until the community is able to set up a by-election.Orlias says his resignation willbemade official on March 31.