Gary Medicine was elected chief of Rainy River First Nation last week.
He will work with former chief Jim Leonard, who was elected a councillor along with Allan Wilson, Kathy Meyers, Agnes Sadewasser, and Sam Bombay.
“I think the community, as a whole, has made good decisions,” said Chief Medicine. “The people coming on council are a workable group and we have representatives from all different areas bringing all different strengths.
“They’re all going to be good to work with,” he added.
For the past 15 years, Medicine has been a counsellor at Fort Frances High School through the Native Education Guidance Program, helping students choose their post-secondary schools as well as helping with timetables, course selection, and other in-school guidance.
Medicine has relinquished his job at the high school to take on his role of chief as a full-time job. He said he’s prepared to tackle both local and provincial issues over the course of his two-year term.
“I think health care is going to be one [big issue] and education is going to be another,” he noted. “Here, housing is always an issue and it’s an ongoing issue.
“We have young people growing up here and a lot of them are going to need places,” he stressed.
The band election took place last Thursday, with the ballots counted and results announced Friday.
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