Charles McNeely has been re-elected as the chairperson of the Sahtu Secretariat Incorporated (SSI) after serving in this position for six years.
The election was held during the SSI annual general meeting in Fort Good Hope earlier this week.
The other candidates were former Sahtu MLA Paulie Chinna and former president of the Yamoga Lands Corporation, Robert Leon Kelly.
McNeely received 26 votes, Chinna got 5 and Kelly received zero.
“It makes me feel good that they have confidence in me running the organization,” McNeely told CKLB after the election. “I guess they’ve seen all the hard work that we’ve been doing and things that we’ve accomplished.”
McNeely said he plans to focus on community wellness for his third term, including promoting bush camps, bringing more young people out on the land, and addressing the impact of drugs and alcohol.
“We’re going to concentrate on not taking all the drugs away but helping our youth and families that are struggling,” McNeely said.
He believes that taking youth out on the land helps reduce addiction to drugs and alcohol.
McNelly also plans to continue advocating for the Mackenzie Valley highway, as winter roads are closing earlier each year, which impacts everyone in the Sahtu region.
Meanwhile, the meeting also discussed the main issues facing their communities, such as the soaring cost of living and the lack of healthcare services.
The next SSI annual general meeting is expected to take place in Colville Lake.
Seven land corporations and community members from the Sahtu regions gathered at the SSI annual general meeting in Fort Good Hope. (Josie Jiaxuan Wu/CKLB)
