Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty re-elected

As the clock approached midnight, fireworks and bear bangers echoed over Behchokǫ̀ as election results came in, with Tłı̨chǫ Grand Chief Jackson Lafferty re-elected to serve a second term.

Cheers rang out into the early hours of Tuesday morning from the couple of hundred people who had waited four hours in the chilly damp night for results to come in, showing Jackson had won over former Behchokǫ̀ Chief Clifford Daniels after a 45-day campaign.

“Thank you to every, every one of you here — it’s a victory for all of us, not just me, all of you,” said Lafferty in English, after first speaking first in Tłı̨chǫ.

“It’s a huge victory for the Tłı̨chǫ Nation! We must stand united once again. We’ve been separated, we’ve been divided, but now we conquered it. We won. We won our victory here tonight, but we must reunite our nation.

“Let’s make it stronger — Tłı̨chǫ strong going forward!”

Wiping back the occasional tear, Lafferty said the nation is facing “a huge challenge ahead of us” in the next four years.

Standing under a shelter covered in tarps, with a large campfire throwing some good heat, the former Speaker of the NWT Legislative Assembly said he’s “truly, truly looking forward” to tackling some weighty challenges affecting all four Tłı̨chǫ communities.

“We’ve heard over and over about our challenges in the communities in our region.”

Noting some major work needs to be done in the areas of additions and housing Lafferty called for the Tłı̨chǫ Government to, “take over those departments and take charge of it.”

Lafferty noted some negative comments made during the campaign period and disruptions in recent days over social media by critics of Behchokǫ̀ Chief Bertha Rebecca Zoe — who is one of his strongest supporters — have created a divide in the Nation.

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“You know, you hear and see all the negative comments, especially (Sunday) night. It really, really hit us.”

Rabesca Zoe told CKLB: “Having a consistent return of leadership is good, and the people have spoken … with the elders behind him, the people hopefully will come back together, united and strong. Despite all our differences, we still believe in unity, and as Elder Joe (Rabesca) said, we need to unite again behind the leader.”

“I know (Jackson) is very supportive of my initiative to try to combat addictions and drug dealers in our community. If we’re going to have a Nation that is strong for our future generations, then we need to tackle those issues today.”

Lafferty and Rebecca Zoe announced that out of respect for a family who is in mourning in the community, the full re-election celebrations would be held over for today, with a big drum dance.

Speaking with CKLB, Lafferty said he felt awesome and that victory “a huge accomplishment,” as his opponent Daniels ran a very competitive campaign.

“But at end of the day, there’s only one winner, right? And we must work together going forward. And I gotta work with my community members, my four communities, our members in Yellowknife and citizens are living outside NWT as well.

“So we have to reunite as a nation coming together. That’s one of the priorities. There’s several priorities that Tłı̨chǫ Nation would like for us to address, but that’s one of them.”

The Registrar stated Jackson received 962 votes to Daniels’ 689.

There was a 60% voter turnout, with 1,664 people casting ballots out of 2,788 eligible voters. Thirteen ballots were rejected.

LISTEN TO LAFFERTY’S VICTORY SPEECH:

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