KAMSACK — There are four candidates for chief and 24 candidates running for five council spots for The Key First Nation.
All of the incumbent councillors are running again. Current Chief Clinton Key is also running for a council spot.
Election day is June 12. Advance polls were held on June 2 in Vancouver at the Indian and Métis Friendship Center, June 4 at the Radisson Hotel in Edmonton and June 6 at the Ramada Downtown Hotel in Regina.
There is one ballot for the position of chief, and a separate ballot where electors may vote for up to five council candidates.
Candidates for chief are: Dustin Dayan Brass, Percy O’Soup, Clarence Papequash and Ron Papequash.
Candidates for council are: Ferlyn Brass, Jay-Cee Brass, Jesse-Thomas Brass, Joe Brass, Kenny Brass, Kevin Milton Brass, Shannon Brass, Ivan (Oscar) Chartrand, David (Darrell) Cote, Richard (Ricky) Crane, Chadwick Joseph Favel, Wyatt Holmgren-Brass, Kimberly Keshane, Nolan Keshane, Sidney Keshane, Clinton (Ice-cream) Key, Fernie O’Soup, Glen O’Soup, Pastor Allan O’Soup, Esther Papequash, Shanna Papequash, Solomon Reece (Brass) and George Smith.
Chief Clinton Key won the last election in 2022 by four votes. The race for council was also quite close. Solomon (Brass) Reece, who placed in fifth was elected with 138. George Smith, who placed in sixth, was unsuccessful with 135.
The Kamsack Times contacted all candidates with available contact information about their election campaigns. Only Clinton Key and Shana Papequash responded by press deadline.
The campaign has so far been focused on treaty rights, social services for the nation, and governance issues, said council candidate Shana Papequash, who received 131 votes in 2022. If elected, she vowed to work with “the province and the health region to help our members… [get medical and] therapeutic support.”
Key lauded his record as chief, citing work against what he described as corruption that included several lengthy court battles, yet recognized that more work has to be done. He wants a “complete audit” of The Key’s finances. Clinton Key noted that there hasn’t been an audit since 2022, something he blamed on “internal politics… people don’t want to let people know what they’re making, what they’re taking.”
Chief Clinton Key’s own election victory in 2022 was challenged in Brass v. Key First Nation, 2024 FC 304. Federal court judge Yvan Roy ultimately dismissed the application for the contest, which was filed under Section 31 of the First Nations Election Act.
Shana Papequash said she also had concerns about what she described as corruption.
“I believe that’s one of the main things that a lot of us are campaigning on, we want our own laws,” Shana Papequash said during an over the phone interview with the Kamsack Times while on the campaign trail. “We want our own laws… because [the current system,] it just allows for too much corruption.”
Shana Papequash is part of a “team” of seven council candidates who are supporting Dustin Dayan Brass for chief. The team includes three incumbents: Kimberly Keshane, David (Darrel) Cote and Fernie O’Soup, as well as herself, Jay-Cee Brass, Shannon Brass and Richard (Ricky) Crane.
Clinton Key is supporting Clarence Papequash for chief, as well as Solomon Reece (Brass), Joseph Brass and Jesse Brass for council.
Over the phone Key made a point to celebrate the successful repatriation of 20 head of bison from Grasslands National Park, growing The Key First Nation’s herd to 180. The bison herd touches “not only the cultural aspect, but also food security through the pandemic,” said Key, “it’s been a 35 year dream… to bring the bison back.”
