Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation (PBCN) members have rehired their chief and brought in a new representative for Denare Beach.
Chief Peter Beatty won re-election over challengers Darrell McCallum and Karen Bird in Tuesday’s band elections.
Unofficial results cited by paNOW.ca showed Beatty won 57 per cent of more than 4,000 votes cast. McCallum, a former chief, and Bird each had a little over 20 per cent support.
Marvin Morin is the new band councillor for Denare Beach, defeating incumbent Clayton Sewap and Lionel Gardiner. Vote totals were unavailable.
The following unofficial election results were reported by paNOW.ca.
Elected to the band council from Pelican Narrows are incumbents Eileen Linklater and Harold Linklater along with Weldon McCallum, Myrtle Ballantyne and Justin Halcrow.
Representing Deschambault Lake are incumbent Cornelius Ballantyne and Della Ballantyne. Winning in Sandy Bay were incumbents Harvey Nateweyes and Nora Bear.
In Sturgeon Landing, incumbent Richard Budd won re-election. Winning re-election in Southend were Simon Jobb and Kevin Morin.
Another incumbent, Warren McCallum, won re-election to the Prince Albert Urban Council.
Eileen Linklater, re-elected from Pelican Narrows, became familiar to area residents in 2014 and 2015 as a leading voice against the concept of nuclear waste storage near Creighton.
An eagle feather in hand, Linklater appeared at a public meeting in Creighton last year to present officials with a copy of a PBCN resolution against nuclear waste storage.
As for Beatty, the re-elected chief, he addressed the crowd at the 2013 National Aboriginal Day celebrations in Flin Flon.
“We’ve been around this country for a long time and hopefully [will be for] much longer,” he said.
During his speech, Beatty made a point of speaking some of his words in Cree.
“I believe keeping our languages alive is very important to our Aboriginal people,” he said.
In 2014, Beatty told the Prince Albert Daily Herald that he had no problem posting his band’s finances online to comply with a new federal law.
That came as a handful of First Nations across Canada opposed the law, describing it as an affront to self-government.
