John Wesley thinks teamwork will be key in his term as chief of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.
Wesley, who took the December election and was sworn in earlier this month, held the post eight years ago and will rely on lessons learned from his previous term. He said he will utilize his council more.
“We've got some really good councillors there we need to utilize [them] as a team,” Wesley said. “We have to work together and put all our differences aside. It's good to have feedback and good talks around the table so it makes us look at all the views.”
Wesley said it is an important time for Snuneymuxw and the direction the council will head in will be decided in the coming weeks.
“Our council is making the priorities right now and we're going to sit down and talk about those priorities to move forward in a good way,” said Wesley. “We're coming together to identify all that.”
The Snuneymuxw are currently involved in legal action against Nanaimo school district related to the closure of a number of schools, including Cedar Community Secondary School, but Wesley didn't want to comment as it was before the courts.
“Hopefully we'll see in the near future as we get a little more time, what we can do,” he said.
“I know it's really important times, they elected myself and a good council,” Wesley said. “We're willing to work together and move forward on a lot of the files that were handed down, so it's important times for Snuneymuxw.”
