Nee Tahi Buhn Band elects new deputy chief

A total of 29 voters went to the polls last Thursday to elect a deputy chief and two new councillors for the Nee Tahi Buhn Band.

Seeking to replace deputy chief Cody Reid, who resigned his position earlier this year, was Frank Morris and Patricia Prince, who had been a councillor until she also resigned this year.

READ MORE: Election time for Nee Tahi Buhn

Morris was elected as deputy chief with 16 votes while his competitor Prince received 13.

There were three people running for the two councillor positions.

Mark Morris and Mary Hines will be filling the two council spots after receiving 17 and 16 votes respectively, while their competitor Brianna Adoph received 13 votes.

The byelections were made necessary because of vacancies following the resignations of the previous deputy chief and two councillors, leaving the band with just current chief councillor Raymond Morris as the sole elected official.

The resignations, which prompted the byelections, come amidst reports of discord within the council and questions about band management practices.

READ MORE: Resignations force band byelections

The Nee Tahi Buhn Band, located on the Southside, is one of the smaller ones in the area with approximately 155 members.

The band receives an annual budget from the federal government for general government, health and education services, as well as a share of provincial forest revenue from activities on its traditional territories.

It has also been a financial beneficiary of payments from TransCanada, which will build the Coastal GasLink natural gas pipeline from northeastern B.C. to Kitimat to feed the planned LNG Canada liquefied natural gas plant there, should a construction decision be made by LNG Canada’s owners.

TransCanada has recently announced a series of conditional contracts to First Nations tied to the Coastal GasLink pipeline project should LNG Canada decide to build its plant. The contract list included the Nee Tahi Buhn Band.

- With files from Rod Link