Lac La Ronge chief wins fifth term

Tammy Cook-Searson will return as chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band following Friday's vote.

Tammy Cook-Searson has been re-elected to a fifth term as chief of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band.

With 1,703 votes, Cook-Searson won about 47 per cent of the ballots cast. Her closest competitor, Bruce McKenzie, trailed far behind at 860 votes.

The First Nation, which includes the communities of La Ronge, Stanley Mission and Grandmother’s Bay, is the largest in Saskatchewan – with over 10,000 members.

Chief election officer Milton Burns said his team was counting ballots throughout the night after the Friday election, and only finished the official count late Saturday evening.

Cook-Searson ran on a platform whose centrepiece was a new wellness treatment centre in La Ronge. She pledged to lobby hard for increased housing and education funding.

Band members at ten different polling places, including one in Prince Albert, also elected 12 councillors. Keith Mirasty, Tracey Halkett, Gerald McKenzie, Norman Ross, Kenny Ratt, Larry Charles, Linda Charles, John Roberts, Michael Bird, Ann Ratt, Sam Roberts and Dennis Sanderson will serve alongside Cook-Searson on the new council.

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