In a landslide victory, Bobby Cameron was elected as the new chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN) Thursday in Saskatoon.
He beat out two other candidates, Helen Ben from the Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation and Leo Omani from the Wahpeton First Nation, with a total of 758 votes. Ben received 145 votes and 69 votes went to Omani.
Cameron said one of his priorities is to push for treaty rights to education and housing.
“Our first nation communities of Saskatchewan have been waiting 20 or 30 years for funding to be increased. The fastest-growing demographic in Canada and Saskatchewan, the funding dollars has to reflect that growing population,” he said to reporters.
First Vice-Chief went to Kimberly Jonathan while Robert Merasty, former chief of the Flying Dust First Nation, was elected to Second Vice-Chief. Dutch Lerat claimed the position of Third Vice-Chief.
The election was held after former Chief Perry Bellgarde went on to become Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.