Gwich'in Tribal Council announces candidates for its 2020 election

The Gwich'in Tribal Council has announced its 2020 general election candidates 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 Smith are vying for grand chief.

A biography posted on the Teetl'it Gwich'in Band Council in Fort McPherson, N.W.T., states that Blake 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 the Teetl'it Gwich'in Band Council and is the vice-chair of the Gwich'in Settlement Corporation, according to a biography posted to the Prospectors & Developers Association of Canada's 2021 convention website. Smith works as a manager at BHP and 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 the Nihtat Gwich'in Band Council in Inuvik, and is serving as the vice-chair of Yellowknife Gwich'in Society and chair of the Gwich'in Settlement Corporation. She currently lives in Yellowknife, and is a manager for the territorial government's Finance Department, according to McLeod 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 elected in 2016 by a wide margin. Deputy Chief Jordan 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," Villeneuve said 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.