The Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council (NTC) announced on Monday that Dr. Judith Sayers has been elected as the new president of the NTC.
Sayers won inthe Sept. 25 election in Port Alberni, garnering 59 votes. She won the majority of votes over past president Debra Foxcroft who received 24 votes. Sayers will serve as president of the NTC for the next four years.
Judith is a member of the Hupacasath First Nation and mother of two. She has worked as a strategic adviser to First Nations and corporations and is an adjunct professor with the Peter Gustavson School of Business and Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria. Sayers was the elected Chief of the Hupacasath First Nation for 14 years and the Chief Negotiator for 15 years. Her educational background includes a business and law degree and an honourary Doctor of Laws from Queen’s University. Sayers has an extensive background of practicing law for 18 years in both Alberta and British Columbia, working in international forums, lobbying governments and other agencies for the promotion and protection of First Nations rights and title.
Debra Foxcroft was President for the NTC for the last four years and Ken Watts as its vice-president for the last five years.
Foxcroft’s work has positively benefited the NTC in more ways than can be mentioned, states a press relase from the NTC. To name a few, Foxcroft has successfully negotiated for more funding for NTC’s delegated agency Usma, secured funding to host a Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women and Girls Healing Gathering for Nuu-chah-nulth families and has always made sure Canada never forgot about the resilient and united Nuu-chah-nulth communities on Vancouver Island.
Ken Watts did not run for re-election. The NTC vice-president position remains vacant at this time. The by-election for the NTC vice-president position will be held on Oct. 30.
