Gwich'in Tribal Council announces candidates for its 2020 election

The Gwich'in Tribal Council has announced its 2020 general electioncandidates for grand and deputy chief, and the current chiefs are not seeking re-election.

Two candidates were announced for each position, which comes with a four-year term.

According to the council's declaration of candidates signed Thursday, Richard John Blake and Kenny Smithare vying for grand chief.

A biography posted on theTeetl'it Gwich'in Band Council in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., states thatBlake was appointed as the band council's elder's representative in 2016. He worked as a carpenter his whole life, states the bio.

Smith is also a member of theTeetl'it Gwich'in Band Council and is thevice-chair of the Gwich'in Settlement Corporation,according to a biography posted to the Prospectors & DevelopersAssociation of Canada's 2021 conventionwebsite.Smith works as a manager at BHPand lives in Saskatoon, the bio states.

Kristine McLeod and Richard Nerysoo are the candidates for deputy chief,states the declaration signed by chief returning officer Mary Ann Villeneuve.

McLeod is a member of theNihtat Gwich'in Band Council in Inuvik, and is serving as the vice-chair of Yellowknife Gwich'in Society andchair of the Gwich'in Settlement Corporation. She currently lives in Yellowknife, and is a manager for the territorial government'sFinance Department, according toMcLeod in an email to CBC.

Nerysoo is a former Gwich'in Tribal Council president, and served a term as N.W.T. premier during his 16 years as a member of the N.W.T. Legislative Assembly.

Nominations closed Thursday and the election is set for Sept. 3, according to a news release.

Current Grand Chief Bobbie Jo Greenland-Morgan is not running for re-election. She was electedin 2016by a wide margin.Deputy ChiefJordan Peterson is also not running again.

Vote by paper and online

Gwich'in members will be able to vote by paper ballots in Fort McPherson, Inuvik, Aklavik and Tsiigehtchic the four N.W.T. communities that are members of the Gwich'in Comprehensive Land Claim Agreement, signed in 1992.

"We'll make sure that we're following distancing, making sure that everything is clean," Villeneuvesaid in June.

Gwich'in both within and beyond the Gwich'in Settlement Area will also be able to vote online on election day, or in an advance poll.

The other members of the Gwich'in Tribal Council board are appointed by each of the four community councils.