Liard First Nation sets election date, 4 months late

After months of uncertainty and argument, the Liard First Nation has set an election date — for April 10. That will be nearly four months after Daniel Morris' term as chief expired.

First Nation members will elect a new chief, deputy chief and six councillors (four from Yukon, two from B.C.). The nomination period closes on March 20.

The election has been a contentious issue among First Nations members, some of whom were already questioning the lack of election preparations last year, before Morris' term was up.

When the chief and council's term expired in December, there was still no word of an election. Some citizens — including leadership hopeful George Morgan — accused Morris of unlawfully holding onto power.

The federal government also got involved, trying to spur an election by offering money for an election meeting.

That meeting, held earlier this month, was not exactly a success. Participants said it devolved into a shouting match before ending abruptly, with no election date set.

• Liard First Nation election meeting devolves into shouting match

Now, with voting day finally in view, Morgan has become the first to publicly state his intention to run for chief.

He says money is his big concern. The First Nation has been under third-party management since 2014 as part of a plan to repay debts.   

"Clearly, we have some financial transparency issues going on here. We need to try and analyze out finances as quickly as possible to make sure that our bank accounts are not seized," he said.

Morgan has also raised questions about what happened to a $500,000 payment the Yukon government made a year ago to the First Nation, for "community wellness and capacity development."

It's not clear how that money has been used.

• No meetings, no assemblies, no audits: Questions surround $500K payment to Liard First Nation