Tk’emlups te Secwepemc to swear in new chief, council following election

KAMLOOPS – Results of the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc election are in with a new chief at the helm who will be sworn in later today.

Fred (Sups) Seymour received 159 votes on election day, Nov. 14. He narrowly won with only four votes over fellow candidate Frank Paul. George Casimir received 131 votes while 100 ballots were cast for James (Jimmy) Thomas. Six ballots were rejected.

Seven of the 19 councillor candidates won spots. Howard Campbell, Eagle Casimir, Rosanne Casimir, Nacoma George, Katy Gottfriedson, Janet Jules and Viola Thomas will form the new council under Seymour.

Seymour will take over the leadership after the band’s former chief Shane Gottfriedson announced he would not be seeking another term after 12 years as chief. He was recently elected as the Assembly of First Nations’ Regional Chief of B.C.

Seymour and his council will be sworn in at the Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Moccasin Gardens at 4:30 p.m. today, Nov. 16.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Glynn Brothen at gbrothen@infonews.ca, or call 250-319-7494. To contact the editor, email mjones@infonews.ca or call 250-718-2724.