Familiar Face Back In Charge At Waterhen Lake

Familiar Face Back In Charge At Waterhen Lake

Wednesday, December 13, 2006 at 13:39

A former chief of the Waterhen Lake First Nation has been returned to power.

Yesterday, voters at the band elected Richard Fiddler as chief, giving him a two-year term.

Fiddler served as chief for a four-year stretch during the early 1990s, then served another two-year term shortly before Sid Fiddler rose to power in 2000.

The new chief says he is aware political divisions may still exist between him and the old guard, but he wants to leave them behind and hopes new disagreements don’t crop up.

He adds many grassroots band members have told him they don’t want to see politics standing in the way of progress.

Fiddler says some of the things he plans to work on include examining whether off-reserve band members should get a louder voice on council, and to work at spinning off band businesses into new companies.

Fiddler is joined on the executive by six councillors, four of whom are new. They include Sharon Fiddler, Armand Fiddler, Ben Ernest, Martin Laroque, Dwayne Lasas and Alex Mistickokat.