Paul John Murdoch elected new grand chief of Eeyou Istchee

Paul John Murdoch has been elected grand chief of Eeyou Istchee, securing more than half the vote in a decisive win over two other candidates on Thursday.

A Cree lawyer from Wemindji and Waskaganish, Que., Murdoch is stepping away from private practice to take on the Grand Council's top leadership role. 

Official results from the election show Murdoch with 2,291 votes (52 per cent), defeating Norman A. Wapachee, the interim grand chief who earned 1,746 votes (39 per cent), and John Kitchen who received 410 votes (9 per cent).

Central to Murdoch's platform are housing reform, investments in justice and prevention programs, and a commitment to uniting the Cree Nation's leadership. He replaces Mandy Gull-Masty, who resigned in May to become Canada's minister of Indigenous Services.

"My priority from day one is going to be empowering the council, making sure everybody feels a part of leadership, and unite with all of the chiefs of the communities," said Murdoch. 

Murdoch says regular in-person meetings have already been set up with the grand council of the Crees. 

"Anything great the Cree Nation has ever achieved, it was always during the state of unity," said Murdoch.

Murdoch called it a "friendly" election campaign and said he has a lot of respect for fellow candidates Wapachee and Kitchen.

Housing has been a major issue discussed at general assemblies, according to Murdoch, and it has been a persistent struggle in every community for years. He says it will be another major priority for him, and that they have the tools to address the issue.

"The Cree Nation government can do more to support a private housing sector which would take pressure off of social housing," said Murdoch, adding that they can also develop more social housing. 

Another priority for Murdoch is to better support the justice system, policing, and prevention programs. 

"We gave the bands the power to adopt laws, to ensure peace and order in their communities, but we didn't give them the ability to enforce those laws," said Murdoch

Murdoch refers to the federal Cree-Naskapi (of Quebec) Act, passed in 1984, which establishes local self-government for the Cree and Naskapi First Nations in northern Quebec. 

"There are relatively simple things that we can do to empower communities so that they can adopt laws and policies to implement them, make sure that it is a reflection of what they want," said Murdoch. 

Murdoch hopes to build relationships with fellow members of the Cree Nation Government before tackling important files with the federal government, like Bill C-5. 

For Murdoch, this election is only the beginning. he says that he's not afraid to have hard conversations in the sprit of connecting and understanding one another. 

"I find it rare these days that people are encouraged to get a little uncomfortable having a conversation you might not normally have with somebody else," he said.

As a former lawyer, Murdoch traveled over 100,000 kilometres to visit Cree communities. Although he struggled to find time for discussions during his trips, he found it especially meaningful to engage with people during the election campaign.

"That's the only way we're going to build bridges between communities or people who are so different from one another," said Murdoch. 

The race for deputy grand chief is still ongoing, featuring Linden Spencer from Eastmain and John Henry Wapachee from Waswanipi. 

In the first round, Spencer received 2,126 votes, accounting for 47 per cent of the total, while Wapachee followed with 1,432 votes, representing 32 per cent. 

Voting for the run-off will begin on July 26, with the election scheduled for Aug. 1.