Sagamok Anishnawbek voters went to the polls to elect their new leadership for the 2020-2022 on August 12. 4 candidates ran for the single position of Chief and 67 candidates ran to fil 12 seats around the Council table. By early morning, a new Chief had been declared elected along with 6 new Councillors.
Elected was new Gimaa Alan Ozawanimke and a Council of 12 members. With 287 votes, Ozawanimke unseats Nelson Toulouse who received 187 votes of the 622 valid ballots cast for Chief. 15 ballots for Chief were rejected.
Also in the running for Chief was Laura Owl who received 87 votes and Violet Boissoneau who received 61.
Elected as Councillor for the 2020-2022 Term of Council are:
1. Sheldon Toulouse (243 votes)
2. Angus Toulouse (216 votes)
3. Alan Ozawanimke (183 votes)
4. Michael Abitong (180 votes)
5. Roger Jones (180 votes)
6. Edward Southwind (173 votes)
7. Lawrence Solomon Sr (171 votes)
8. Carol Eshkakogan (165 votes)
9. Anna Marie Abitong (164 votes)
10. Rhonda Stoneypoint-Trudeau (162 votes)
11. Harvey Trudeau (158 votes)
12. Garnette Trudeau (149 votes)
625 valid ballots were cast for Councillor. 12 ballots for Councillor were rejected.
Returning Council members are Sheldon Toulouse, Angus Toulouse, Edward Southwind, Lawrence Solomon Sr., Anna Marie Abitong and Harvey Trudeau. New council members are Michael Abitong, Roger Jones, Carol Eshkakogan, Rhona Stoneypoint-Trudeau, Garnette Trudeau and Alan Ozawanimke. Some new council members have previously served on Council.
The new Council, however, will only have 11 voting members. Alan Ozawanimke was nominated and won both the position of Gimaa as well as a Council seat, though he cannot fill his role as Councillor as a voting member of Council. This is because Sagamok’s election process is prescribed under the Indian Act’s Indian Band Election Regulations that includes this clause. Sagamok has a draft Election Code to replace the Indian Act election regulations but it is yet to be ratified by the community’s membership.
Gimaa Nelson Toulouse was also elected in 2018 to both positions of Gimaa and Councillor resulting in an 11-member council.
The 2020 Sagamok Anishnawbek General Election was planned with pandemic mindfulness as a priority.
Sagamok Communications also provided updates throughout the day to inform voters on polling station visitor volumes and expected wait times to get in to vote so that they could avoid high traffic times.
Polls opened at Enji Wii Ji Gaabwitaadaying Agaamik (New Community Hall) located at 5507 Star Road at 9:00am to voters ready to exercise their democratic rights to elect their leadership for the coming 2 years. Polls closed at 8:00pm after which time a livestream broadcast through the community’s main social media channel provided voters at home a view of the election team’s ballot scrutiny and counting process. Final results were announce live just after 1:30am On August 13 and posted immediately upon release.
The 2020-2022 term of this newly elected Chief and Council begins on Sunday, August 16, 2020.
