Mix of new and returning faces after Metis Nation-Saskatchewan election
June 7, 2025, 10:10 am
Ryan Kiedrowski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Election Day for the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan took place on May 24, and as the unofficial results posted last indicated, three positions were too close to officially call.
The tightest race was in Eastern Region 2, where only two votes separated Brent Digness and Nancy Duns, 96 and 94 respectively. The position of vice president also saw a narrow lead by Michelle LeClair with 1,788 votes to Karen Larocque’s 1,706. Jason McKay also ran for the position, garnering 1,483 votes. The treasurer position was another strong race with five candidates running—Jeremy Denomie, Myra Malboeuf, Dale McAuley, Beth Westfall, and Patricia Young. Denomie leads with 1,248 votes, followed closely by McAuley with 1,205.
Digness, LeClair, and Denomie have been elected, but subject to a potential recount given how close each of the three positions were.
Returning president Glen McCallum received a strong showing from voters in another five-way race, edging out Naz Chalifoux, Kevin Henry, Bonnie Marwood, and Lisa McCallum. President McCallum was first elected to the position in 2017 and served as director for Northern Region 3 for five years prior.
Marlene Hansen will serve as secretary for the first time.
“We are pleased that the MN–S citizens came out and exercised their right to vote,” noted Chief Electoral Officer, Gwen LaFond. “This year, we had more registered citizens than ever before and we are pleased to have had more citizens come out to vote than in the previous election. I am extremely proud of our team and thank the citizens for their response.”
In total, 18 people put their names forward for executive positions and 31 for regional director.
Only one director position was acclaimed, being Laura Burnouf in Northern Region 1. Re-elected were Leonard Montgrand (NR2), Loretta King (WR1), Billy Kennedy (WR1A), Sherry McLennan (WR2), Wendy Gervais (WR3), Ryan Carrier (ER1), and Marg Friesen (ER3). Brent Digness is representing ER2 pending the recount. New faces include Brennan Merasty (NR3), Beverly Fullerton (WR2A), and Darcy Lepowick (ER2A).
This year’s election saw some changes that seemed to have a positive effect on voting.
“After the 2021 MN–S Election, we looked at potential improvements,” LaFond noted. “This year, we had more polling stations in smaller centres to serve voters outside urban centres. We also teamed up with the MN–S Registry and had registry staff onsite to update citizenship cards and confirm citizenship. They were well utilized and allowed citizens to mark a ballot right then and there.”
There has been strong growth in the MN-S Citizenship Registry, which currently sits at over 34,000; up from around 16,000 in the 2021 election.
Eastern Region 3
Returning to her seat as Director for ER3 is Marg Friesen, whose region reaches as far north as Foam Lake, south to the U.S. border, east to the Manitoba border, and west to include parts of Regina. Friesen hails from the Qu’Appelle Valley and resides in Indian Head, and feels her “life’s work has been dedicated to making a difference in communities and with the people I have served.”
“As a leader, a community member and citizen, I have built meaningful relationships, effected positive change, and lead with authenticity and purpose,” she stated.
Prepared for a return to the work of a director, Friesen is buoyed by the elected officials around her.
“It’s very interesting times,” Friesen observed of the elections this year. “We, of course, want to work with the incumbents who were re-elected, and also the new candidates in regions that have been elected. So we’ll be onboarding here in the next week or so, learning the governance structure, and some of the changes that have been made for administration and for our political body. However, we’re looking forward to working together and continuing on the path to self government. And of course, I couldn’t be more thrilled that President Glen McCallum had been re-elected. We built this foundation together, and I’m looking forward to working with him again.”
It was a busy campaign for Friesen, but one that provided the important opportunity to meet with the people she represents in ER3.
“It was quite an interesting 35 days, of course, being on the campaign trail in this region, meeting with citizens and meeting with groups of people who have a vested interest in the Métis Nation, seeing the progress and seeing the growth of Métis Nation and how it’s going to impact families and communities,” she said. “Communities and individuals are really what we’re focused on, and citizens are wanting to know the same.”
Sharing with the people in ER3 what she’s about was important for Friesen.
“What’s my vision for the future, and what am I willing to bring forward to the provincial Métis Council, and how am I going to represent in a good way, the people that voted and how are we going to continue to work together so that we’re meeting the needs of citizens in our communities,” she explained.
Friesen learned a lot from those interactions around the immense region.
“I think that communications with Métis Nation-Saskatchewan needs to improve,” she told the World-Spectator. “Communications from government, to citizen, to frontline communities, is equally as important. I think we can strengthen our communications so that folks know in community what the strategy is, what the priorities are.
“Of course, listening to our citizens is important so that we’re building a government that is reflective and also taking a look at the gaps in service delivery, such as in health and housing in this region,” continued Friesen. “We’re working on affordable senior housing, and that’s been a focus for us for several years, and it’s coming to fruition this term. So we’re excited about that.”
Another huge issue is Métis harvesting rights, which are recognized under Section 35 of the Constitution Act, but not universally applicable throughout the province.
“We want to pursue and continue to focus on harvesting rights for all of Métis Nation citizens in Saskatchewan, not just a certain landmark or a certain land base, specifically right now in the north,” Friesen said. “We’re working closely with the provincial government to define what that harvesting agreement will look like. That’s on the minds of citizens, and that’s what I heard throughout this campaign is where are we at with our harvesting rights, so that is a priority, of course, that we’ll focus on and I’ll bring to the table on behalf of the citizens of this region.”
Right now, there’s a transition period between the election ending and the swearing-in of MN-S government officials on June 24 at Batoche, but that doesn’t mean representatives will have time to catch their breath.
“Most of us were back to work on Monday this week, just ensuring that our regional offices are in order and that we’re updating and informing the regional office staff—what changes have been made, bringing them up to speed on scheduling and time frames, such as the swearing in ceremony on June 24 but also informing them what significant changes are on the horizon for the region, which will impact the nation,” Friesen said. “We’re looking forward to getting back to work, planning our first regional council meeting for this term, which is in the next week or so. It’s a very busy time, and the newly elected provincial Métis Council are coming together for onboarding and orientation here June 7 to 9. So it will be a very busy time from then until swearing in. But it’s business as usual for this region, getting back to work.”
Despite the hectic schedules, Friesen is more than happy to serve as a director in ER3.
“It is a different lifestyle, because I believe in servant leadership,” she said. “People have elected you for a reason. They believe in you. They believe in your leadership. They believe that you can be part of change and advocate for what needs to get done and what people need too. That’s our job—lobbying our government partners in the province of Saskatchewan and Canada, that’s what I’m able to do, and that’s what I will continue to do. The citizens have spoken. They believe in that, and so I am ready to hit the ground running and get back to work.”
Eastern Region 2A
Yorkton resident Darcy Lepowick is a new director in ER2A, but he’s no stranger to the issues facing Métis across Saskatchewan. He previously served as president of the Yorkton Métis Local 13, volunteering around 20 hours per week. Now that his children are older, Lepowick felt he could devote more time to follow that call to represent the people of ER2A. Committing to the director role also meant Lepowick will be stepping back from other areas that keep him busy.
“I will be taking a leave from teaching, and then also we have a game farm—we have elk, deer, buffalo, and wild boars—and my son has taken over that part of the farm,” he explained. “I still can contribute back to community with the land based learning, but citizens in this region have been disengaged for years, and they just need somebody to lead to get started again.”
Ensuring true visibility in the director position is important to Lepowick, who plans to implement simple yet direct ideas to his role.
“Transparency was one thing, hire a bookkeeper to make sure everybody knows what money that’s coming into the region and where it’s going,” he said. “Every month, I’ll provide a simple financial statement to everybody, because that’s one thing nobody knew about. Communication was very poor. In addition to that, to let people know once a month, I’ll revisit all those communities every month and let them know, either in person or attend their meetings, to let them know what’s happening with the region and with the MN-S, and then just to provide them information as well with what’s happening with grants and what’s available with schooling, back to school programs for youth and elders.”
Mending relationships and establishing new ones is another highly important item for Lepowick, who will be leaning on his already strong ties with municipal, provincial, and federal politician friends. Along with the figurative rebuilding work, Lepowick also plans on literal construction in the region as well.
“There hasn’t been a building here for years, so there is money available, but a building hasn’t been open,” he explained. “We’re sort of starting at ground level here, I didn’t get a set of keys to a building or a bunch of equipment or a bank account, it’s starting it up again.”
“I am more of a doer than a talker,” continued Lepowick. “There’s lots of talkers, but you need somebody that gets the stuff done, too. That’s where I come in.”
Lepowick also operated a successful outfitting business, but as with many ventures, that world changed five years ago.
“We used to have a lot of tourists, we used to guide hunters and have 200 to 300 Chinese tourists come to the farm, and then Covid hit, so everything shut right down,” he said.
This new reality meant a pivot for Lepowick, who decided to return to school at 50 and gain a teaching degree. Much like his own experience with adapting to a new environment, Lepowick sees great potential in the people of ER2A as well. The region itself extends to Canora in the north, the Manitoba border to the east, Broadview to the south, and Melville in the west, with Yorkton in the middle.
“Within the region itself, there’s so many skilled and knowledgeable people that have been disengaged and not utilized,” he said. “We have the mines here. There’s mechanical engineers, there’s former miners, there’s business owners in town. There’s farmers that have not been engaged, consulted, or even talked to. It’s been so long, but now, there’s so many things that I want to help with and want to be involved in. I’m not a one-man show, it’s a community as a whole, unite the area, and that way we can be stronger and work towards a better future.”
Although the election is over, Lepowick is eager to hit the ground running. He is looking forward to orientation and onboarding meetings on June 9 and 10 at Dakota Dunes. Plus, there’s the ongoing work he does in addition to setting up shop in the region.
“I do sit on the Harvesting Advisory Working Group, and that’s in negotiations with the province to have our harvesting rates recognized,” Lepowick said.
After orientation comes the swearing in event at Batoche on June 24 where Lepowick has also been known to supply some of the products off his ranch.
“The Thursday will be wild boar, and Saturday will be the whole Buffalo,” he said. “Friday, they’ll just do the buffalo teachings, because we harvest the buffalo, skin, flesh, and cut up the meat all on Friday.”
Also on the calendar in the near future for all elected is the Métis Nation Legislative Assembly in September.
