Thirty-one candidates have put their hat in the ring for the Lower Nicola Indian band elections Oct. 2. Nominations for the chief and council closed last week.

Two candidates are competing for the office of chief: Aaron Sam and Victor York.

Sam is currently a Lower Nicola councillor and a lawyer by profession.

York is a former chief who was first elected in 1992. That campaign was also his first foray into Lower Nicola politics.

“First time in, I ran for chief. I wanted the head position first,” York recalled Monday.

He served three consecutive three-year terms followed by another three-year term as councillor.
York is now working as the mental health and addictions counsellor for the Cook's Ferry and Siska bands.

Like the Lower Nicola band, Cook's Ferry and Siska are members of the Nicola Valley Tribal Association.

Meanwhile, 29 nominees are vying for seven council seats.

All five incumbent councillors other than Sam are running for re-election to council. They are: Connie Joe, Harold Joe, Joanne Lafferty, Lucinda Seward, and Molly Toodlican. The seventh council seat had been vacant.

Although nominations are now closed, candidates have until Sept. 16 to withdraw from the race. They may also be disqualified between now and then.

Current Lower Nicola Chief Don Moses will not be running again. He did not respond to requests for comment as of press time.

In January, Moses called for the resignation of then-councillors Clyde Sam, Mary June Coutlee, and Stuart Jackson. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada audited Lower Nicola's finances following accusations by Moses that they had misappropriated $1.2 million of band money.

Aaron Sam, Lafferty, Toodlican, Seward, and another councillor, Yvonne Basil, met in February and removed Moses from the position of chief until the audit was completed.

However, in June, the Federal Court of Canada ruled that the suspension of Moses was “invalid and unlawful” and he should be allowed to complete his term.

Clyde Sam, Coutlee, and Jackson are candidates in the upcoming election.

It also set aside the January suspension of Aaron Sam and Basil as councillors.

Both Aaron Sam and York have called for unity among band members.

A press release announcing Aaron Sam's candidacy earlier this month quoted him as saying, “I believe our community needs a chief that will promote unity and working together as a chief and council.”

York said in an interview Monday that if elected, his objective for his first year in office would be to “calm the waters” among Lower Nicola members.

He also said he hoped to meet with managers and make an inventory of the band's demographics to help planning and to make those findings public.

“The membership should have a clear understanding of where we're at.”

Aaron Sam has said he would establish a long-term wellness plan for Lower Nicola “promoting health and healing.”

According to electoral officer Fred Schiffner, there are 794 registered voters in the Lower Nicola band.