A new Chief has been elected for Alderville First Nation on Friday, July 7, 2023.
Taynar Simpson beat out current Chief Dave Mowat by three votes.
There were 431 ballots cast – 198 votes cast for Simpon and 195 cast for Mowat. There were 38 cast for David J. S. Baker.
Elected candidates chosen for council were:
Dawn Marie Kelly 265
Taynar Simpson 265
Lisa M. McDonald 211
Nora Sawyer 208
Jason Thomas Marsden 198
Reaching out to Chief elect Simpson for comment he stated, “It is a great honour to have been elected as Chief of Alderville First Nation. This is a privilege for me to serve our membership in this capacity.”
Simpson said he ran on a platform of transparency, accountability and respect.
“Looking after our growing senior population will be my first priority. I feel that Alderville is in need of an elder care facility. It would be great to keep our cherished elders in the community.”
Simpson said the new Council which includes his partner, Lisa McDonald, “will carry on with the good work already underway and introduce new initiatives and programming to benefit all of our members living both on-and off-reserve. I would like to thank the members for their faith in my vision for Alderville.”
“I would also like to thank the previous Chief and Council for their hard work.”
Chief Mowat was at the opening ceremonies of the Alderville First Nation Pow Wow and Today’s Northumberland had a brief interview with him about the Pow Wow and election.
Mowat said there is always a “buzz” in the air around the time of the Pow Wow whether it be in the Alderville community or any community.
Praising the Public Works and staff for making the area look “impeccable.”
“At one time, the Federal Government, the Canadian Government, the Imperial Government didn’t want us to celebrate and they didn’t want us to pay homage to our tradition and to our history.”
“They outlawed these kinds of events and shame on Canada for doing that.”
“All these generations later we are able to celebrate as we do. It’s a reflection on our resiliency, not only here in Alderville, but all across Turtle Island.”
Speaking about the election, Mowat said, “that’s politics.”
Following it up by saying, “you’ll never know what it’s like to be Chief, until your become Chief. You’ll never know what one has to deal with.”
Mowat said he wishes Chief Elect Simpson and the incoming Council the best of luck.
As Chief for four years and being on Council for eight years, Mowat said, “I paid the price. Physically I paid the price and health wise I paid the price.”
“When you care about your community, you should feel the weight and I know that I have paid the price, and I’m proud to have paid the price.”
Mowat said the one thing he will be forever proud of is adding 835 acres to the land reserve.
“Under the 2018 Williams Treaty Settlement Agreement we negotiated a 11,000 acre legal land entitlement and I’ve been adamant on acting on that.”
“We tackled so many issues (as Counsel), to make Alderville First Nation a better place.”
“I want to say “thank you” and I want to honour the relations that I developed with the County and with my colleagues in the surrounding the Townships. With various agencies and entities that I’ve had dealings with, I just want to say thank you and making it an honour to work alongside – chi-miigwech,
The inauguration for Chief-Elect Simpson is set for July 20th.
Author: Pete Fisher
Has been a photojournalist for over 30-years and have been honoured to win numerous awards for photography and writing over the years. Best selling author for the book Highway of Heroes - True Patriot Love
