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Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) has a new chief for the next three years - and it's someone who already knows the job well.
Peter A. Beatty was elected as the band's chief in PBCN's election for chief and council April 9, making his return as the band's chief. Beatty, who hails from Deschambault Lake, was PBCN's chief from 2013 to 2021 before not running for reelection in the band's last vote for chief.
Beatty received 969 of the 4,386 votes cast in the election, enough to finish first. Ovide Michel finished second in the vote, barely a hundred ballots behind Beatty with 862 votes, followed by Darrin Morin (784 votes) and former PBCN chief Darrell McCallum (684 votes). Now-former chief Karen Bird, the incumbent running for her second term as chief, finished fifth in the vote with 434 votes.
Melville Linklater, Elysha Bear-Morin, Tracy Merasty and Joseph McKay rounded out the field with 318, 149, 67 and 41 votes respectively. Election organizers confirmed 78 ballots cast for chief were spoiled.
Council spots
Seats on PBCN's council were also up for grabs, with several new and familiar faces elected to the band's next council. Results from the vote were shared publicly April 9. Just six members of the band’s 14 incumbent band members were reelected.
Pelican Narrows' five council seats will go to Thomas Linklater, Olivia Custer, Justin Halcrow, Francis Highway and Leon Dorion - Linklater, who received the most votes cast for any one candidate, is the sole incumbent to win reelection. Linklater's name was marked on 450 ballots, while Custer and Halcrow received 383 and 381 votes apiece - Highway received 366 votes and Dorion received 354.
Competition was fierce for seats, as Theola Dorion and former councillor Weldon McCallum both finished within 20 votes of the final spot - Dorion with 338 votes, McCallum with 335 votes. While two other incumbent councillors - Myrtle Ballantyne and Sarah Swan - ran for reelection, neither won seats, getting 231 and 325 votes respectively.
Deschambault Lake re-elected Walter Ballantyne and elected Justin Beatty with 175 votes and 160 votes apiece, with incumbent councillor Peter R. Beatty - not to be confused with the newly elected chief - finishing fourth, out of the seats.
Sandy Bay elected Timothy Underwood and Nora Bear, re-electing Bear and bringing Underwood back onto council after a term away. Underwood received 157 votes, while Bear received 143 - now-former councillor Harvey Natewayes finished third with 111 votes, while none of the other nine candidates cracked 100 votes.
In Denare Beach, the new councillor for the Amisk Lake reserve is former councillor Clayton Sewap, who picked up 114 of 217 votes in a four-candidate field. Former councillor Marvin "Chuck" Morin finished second in the vote with 50 ballots cast. Sewap won three previous elections to represent Amisk Lake on council before Morin won the last two.
For Southend and Kinoosao, Jeremy Morin and Kevin Morin won the most votes, with both picking up one of the communities' two seats - Kevin won reelection with 262 votes, while Jeremy received 278 votes, taking over the seat of former councillor Nelson Morin, who finished fourth of nine candidates.
Clarisse "La La" Lecoq won reelection as PBCN's urban councillor for Prince Albert with 493 votes, while Allan Michel was re-elected to represent Sturgeon Landing on council, getting 37 of the 71 votes cast.
Elder's council
Spots on the band's elder's council were also up for grabs in the vote. Votes were held for the elder's council in four different communities.
In Pelican Narrows, Mildred Ratt and George Michel were the two elected members for the council, while Sandy Bay elected Glen Custer and Margaret McDonald. Deschambault Lake's two seats on the council will go to top-two vote-getters Larry Beatty and Melvin Sewap, while both Ann Margaret Michel and Celina Morin will be Prince Albert urban representatives.
Other communities selected elder's council members by acclamation, as only one or two candidates stepped forward. That was the case in Amisk Lake, where Norvil Morin will represent the community, while Marguerite Michel will do the same for Sturgeon Landing. Florence Clarke and Dennis Cook ran unopposed and will be the elder's representative for Southend and Kinoosao.
