Rosanne Casimir re-elected chief of Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc has decided to re-elect Rosanne Casimir as its chief.

The band held its 2021 general election Nov. 13. Out of the three candidates vying for the Kukpi7 position, Casimir claimed 245 votes over contenders Jeanette Jules, who had 149 votes and Chad Gottfriedson with 81 votes, according to the band’s latest election update.

This will be Casimir's second term as chief. She was first elected as a councillor in 2009.

The Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc has 1,130 eligible voters, 488 of whom cast their ballots.

Casimir will be joined by councillors Marie Baptiste, Thomas Blank, Nickole Fraser, Joshua Gottfriedson, Justin Gottfriedson, David Manuel and Nicole Peters for the new term.

The elected chief and council will be sworn in on Nov. 15. The event will be live-streamed on the band’s Facebook and Vimeo pages starting at 4:30 p.m.

For those who wish to attend the ceremony at Moccasin Square Gardens, masks must be worn at all times and attendees will be required to be double vaccinated against COVID-19.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Carli Berry or call 250-864-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.