Nickel Belt News
Volume 57 Number 28
Friday, July 14, 2017
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Three northern candidates seeking to become Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs grand chief July 19 BY IAN GRAHAM EDITOR@THOMPSONCITIZEN.NET
Three northern First Nation members, including one former chief and one current chief, are among the fi ve candidates seeking to succeed Derek Nepinak as the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs (AMC) grand chief July 19 during the organization’s annual general assembly in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) July 18-20. The candidates include Chief Arlen Dumas of Mathias Colomb Cree Nation (MCCN) in Pukatawagan, former Wasagamack First Nation chief Sharon Mason and David Kobliski, the manager of NCN’s Nelson House Development Corporation for the past 20 years, as well as Craig Blackmisth of Dakota Plains Wahpeton Oyate and Garry McLean of Lake Manitoba Treaty 2 First Nation. The next grand chief will be selected by the chiefs of AMC’s 64 member First Nations and the trio of northern candidates means there’s a chance for a second grand chief from the north. Ron Evans of Norway House Cree Nation was the first northern elected as grand chief and served two terms from 2005 to 2011. Mason’s experience in elected politics is limited to just a single term as the chief of Wasagamack First Nation in the Island Lake region near the ManitobaOntario boundary but she comes from a family with a long tradition of political service, as her father was a band councillor in her home community for 20 years and her grandmother was a band councillor for 30 years before that. When she ran for chief and won in 2015, it wasn’t her first time being approached about seeking election. “The last time I was
Nickel Belt News photo by Ian Graham Former Wasagamack First Nation chief Sharon Mason and Nelson House Development Corporation manager David Kobliski are among five candidates seeking to become the next grand chief at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs annual general assembly being held in Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation July 18-20. asked it was by an elder in the community who I had a lot of respect for so I really thought, ‘OK, I really need to give this some serious thought and I really need to see if this is something that I might want to try,’ so I decided to accept the nomination,” Mason told the Nickel Belt News. “I was off-reserve for 20 years and I had married into community so it wasn’t the community I was raised in. So to be asked to run for chief and then to be elected was an incredible honour from a community that took me.” Kobliski is an absolute rookie when it comes to running for office, having spent the past two decades pursuing his passion of economic development. “What I’ve been doing for the last 20 years, I’d like to take that experience and carry it forward to all the First Nations,” said Kobliski. “ NCN, we are very progressive when it comes to economic development because the economic development opportunities that we’ve developed and
own and operate ourselves, it’s opened up a lot of doors in other areas for our First Nation’s programming. It’s all about working with leadership, being on the same page and that’s one of the things that makes it successful is being able to work together. I want to make a difference with the First Nation communities and the grassroots people for them to actually benefit.” It took a bit of convincing for him to put his name forward as a candidate for AMC grand chief. “Some of the chiefs have asked me if I’d be interested in running for the position,” Kobliski said. “I looked at the positives and I said, ‘OK, maybe I can work in a positive forward motion with the leadership and actually make a difference to all the First Nations.’” Mason says that serving as chief for one term made her acutely aware of the issues that not only affect Wasagamack First Nation members but First Nations throughout Manitoba.
“You really see everything that your people are going through,” she says. “You really feel it. You have to bear witness to all that’s happening and you’re privy to everything. You have so much knowledge of what’s going on and how people are being impacted day to day by all the issues and I just really felt like I wanted to continue to try and help make a difference in the lives of our people and in our communities. I was tackling a lot of issues in the community like mental health issues, and lack of proper health care, lack of housing, lack of infrastructure, not having clean water and it occurred to me that that’s really what’s happening across the board so I can still help my community by working on those issues on a more regional level.” Kobliski says his experience with Nelson House Development Corporation has shown that he is someone who can take direction and get things done and that gaining greater economic independence has
benefitted NCN members. “Any type of product or service that the First Nation is purchasing we’re more or less structured that we’re purchasing direct from ourselves, we’re purchasing directly from wholesalers and manufacturers and pretty much cut out all of the middlemen,” he said. “It’s about working toward being self-suffi cient and selffunding and not relying on government funding to operate. It’s all about employment and training and reinvesting back into the community and it’s the community that benefits as a whole.” Mason said her campaign has focused on getting to as many First Nations as possible to talk to the leaders or, at their request, First Nation members. “Even though it’s the chiefs that vote I still made a lot of effort and did my best to really try to get to the communities and some of the chiefs even had me talk to their community members despite that
fact that they don’t have a vote,” Mason said. “They still want their community members to have some sort of engagement in it and to listen to me and provide feedback to their chief. I had one community where the chief had me present to their elders. I had another community where I presented at a community meeting. There are some leaders that do want to see you talk to their community members. They want their community members to have some involvement. I think it‘s something that a leader should be doing is also spending time and going to communities and balancing and just getting back and touching base and remembering who you’re doing this for and what their struggles are and really hearing from them on the ground.” Kobliski stresses collaboration as the key to making positive changes. “I don’t believe in all talk no action,” he says. “It’s all about creating a win-win scenario for the First Nation, government and industry. I know what the issues are that all First Nations are having to face and deal with and I’m not interested in fighting. I’m more interested in developing a plan to move forward in a positive action and doing it in concert with the leadership. It’s all planning and identifying the benefits. I enjoy what I do and if I can take that same concept to all the First Nations and make it work, that makes me feel better because I’m actually making a difference but doing it with the leadership and making a difference for the people we’re supposed to be representing.” The Nickel Belt News tried to reach Dumas for an interview regarding his candidacy but had not succeeded as of press time.