Jason Alsop, Gaagwiis, is the newly elected president of the Council of the Haida Nation.
Alsop received strong support from Haida citizens voting in the CHN election on Saturday, Dec. 1, winning 68 per cent of the ballots cast for president in a contest with Ronald “Champ” Brown.
Alsop was previously elected to the CHN as a regional representative for HlGaagilda/Skidegate, and has also served on the Archipelago Management Board that co-manages Gwaii Haanas as well as on the Gwaii Trust Society and the board that oversees SGaan Kinghlas/Bowie Seamount.
Campaigning door-to-door and at all-candidates meetings, Alsop promised to hold HaiCo accountable and to work with other leaders to make Haida Gwaii energy sovereign by 2023.
Alsop, who recently completed an award-winning master’s thesis in tourism management, also pledged to strengthen management of Haida Gwaii’s protected areas and to develop an islands-wide tourism plan, along with constructing the new CHN office in Old Massett.
Joining Alsop on the executive is Trevor Russ, Ginn wadluu un uula isdaa ayaagang, who was re-elected as the CHN’s vice-president.
To represent Gaw/Old Massett, voters elected Robert Bennett, Stephen “Buck” Grosse, Lawrence Jones, and Alfred Setso.
Laverne Hamilton and Tarah Samuels were elected as the representatives for T’agwan/Vancouver, while Pansy Collison and David Parnell were each elected as representatives for Kxeen/Prince Rupert.
Barbara Wilson was acclaimed as a representative for Skidegate, with three more Skidegate representatives set to be elected in an upcoming by-election on Saturday, Dec. 22.
