Outgoing Grand Chief Ron Evans of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) has topped a field of 11 in a special election to become chief - again - of Norway House Cree Nation.
Two candidates - Orville W. Apetagon and Lester Balfour - were disqualified at the last minute, leaving nine in the race, said Stephanie Connors, electoral officer for Norway House Cree Nation, in a signed July 22 statement of election results, released to the media July 24. Voting took place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 22 at the Multiplex Veterans Hall in Norway House.
Evans, 53, won the race in a landslide with 850 votes. Runner-up Loretta Bayer had 200 votes followed by Clarence Paupanekis with 181; Nick Saunders, 125; Larson R. Anderson, 117; Darlene Osborne, 114; Kenneth Budd, 73; Nelson Scribe Sr., 22; and Winnifred J Balfour, 12.
Elected as AMC grand chief on July 27, 2005, Evans was successful in his bid for re-election on Aug. 13, 2008.
A former Norway House chief, Evans was 22 when first elected as a band councillor in 1980 - the youngest band councillor ever elected by the Norway House Cree Nation. He served as a band councillor from 1980 to 1988, and was the band's acting chief for two years during the 1980s. He was elected chief of Norway House Cree Nation in 1996 and was re-elected twice.
Evans was born and raised in Norway House and educated also in Winnipeg, Calgary and La Tuque, Que.
An Anglican priest, Evans is a member of the diocesan council for the Anglican Diocese of Keewatin and a member of the Anglican Council of Indigenous People.
The Diocese of Keewatin, 300,000 square miles, is the third largest by geography of the dioceses in the Anglican Church of Canada. It stretches from the American border and the Diocese of Minnesota in the south to Hudson Bay in the north. From east to west, in the south, it starts just east of Ignace, Ont. and goes to the communities of Pine Falls and Sakgeeng First Nation in the west. From east to west, in the north, it starts just east of Fort Hope, Ont. as far west as Churchill. Other neighbouring dioceses include Algoma and Moosonee to the east, the Diocese of the Arctic to the north, and the Diocese of Rupert's Land and Diocese of Brandon to the west. Keewatin Diocese is home to about 11,000 Anglicans who worship in 48 parishes. The diocese is a member of the Council of the North of the Anglican Church of Canada.
Evans is also a member of the Norway House Fisherman's Co-op and holds a commercial fishing licence. In 1998, Manitoba Progressive Conservative premier Gary Filmon inducted Evans into the Order of the Buffalo Hunt, one of the province's highest honours. The Order of the Buffalo Hunt was founded in 1957 to recognize the outstanding and distinctive contributions of leaders in areas such as politics, business, sports and entertainment.
In the 1999 provincial election, Evans ran unsuccessfully in the riding of The Pas as a Progressive Conservative candidate. In 2000, he switched parties and became a Liberal, running federally unsuccessfully in the riding of Churchill in the 2004 federal election. He lost close races both provincially and federally.
The Norway House Cree Nation special election for chief July 22 was made necessary when former chief Eric Apetagon resigned his post March 17 after a year in office.
Eric Apetagon was arrested in a Thompson bar at 2 a.m. on March 19 - two days after he resigned "for personal and health reasons" - and charged with causing a disturbance, resisting arrest and assaulting a police officer. On March 28, Norway House RCMP were dispatched to a residence in the community in response to reports of an assault.
The RCMP said that when the officers arrived on the scene, along with local band constables, Eric Apetagon threatened that if the police would not leave his home, he would get his rifle. He was arrested and taken into custody and a firearm was later seized from the residence. Eric Apetagon was charged with uttering threats, resisting arrest and two counts of breaching an undertaken - in connection with his Thompson arrest nine days before.
A former band councillor, Eric Apetagon was elected chief in March 2010. Some Norway House Cree Nation members, who alleged that Eric Apetagon and the newly elected councillors had engaged in corrupt practice in the election, appealed the election results but the community elections appeal committee found that was not the case.
That decision was appealed to the Federal Court of Canada, but the case was dismissed for failure to comply with an order of the court.
Nick Saunders, who was first elected to the band council in a 2009 byelection to replace three councillors found to have engaged in corrupt practices during the 2006 election, and re-elected in March 2010, was appointed as acting chief until the July 22 election. Evan's term as chief runs until March 17, 2014.
The 2006 election in Norway House saw three band councillors ultimately removed from office for corrupt election practices after it was found that they had signed and delivered letters promising new homes and trailers and delivered new furniture and appliances to the homes of various electors three days prior to the vote.
A Norway House Cree Nation election-appeal tribunal ruled that the practice was corrupt, a decision that was appealed to the Federal Court of Canada by former band councillor Fred Muskego. The court dismissed the appeal June 17.
Norway House runs custom elections, held every four years and the election-appeal tribunal settles disputes.
