Leq’á:mel First Nation has a new chief councillor.
Stacey Goulding, whose traditional name is Temáytélwet, takes on the top leadership role after years of working with Katzie First Nation.
Roughly two months after being elected, Goulding says there’s a lot to prioritize.
“Getting our communities to that place, given the immense amount of priorities that we're expected to deliver on — it's not an easy seat, so I'm happy to be able to bring my skills and experience to be able to support my own community to get to that place,” Goulding said.
Goulding replaces former Chief Alice Thompson and joins Camielle Laslo, Lance Campo, Darrel McKamey, Dawn Styran, Phil Sherwood, and Sandy McDonald on the council.
“The leaders of the past got us to where we are. So hands up to the leaders that that aren't at the table any longer, but even those who were re-elected – they've done an amazing job, and now I'm excited to support them and our current administration and our community by bringing more robust processes, updating governance policies and procedures, to then be able to expand on what what they have been providing to the community,” Goulding said.
During the election for chief councillor, Goulding’s pitch to the community was rooted in transparency, accountability and equal opportunity.
The term ahead will focus on building out Leq’á:mel’s governance policies and processes, while updating its strategic plan, election code and land code, Goulding says. She also hopes the work of the Leq’á:mel Development Corporation, which operates at arms-length from the nation, continues.
“I think the challenge is there are so many things and they're all equally important, so having to prioritize those things is going to be a job in itself,” Goulding said.
Goulding previously worked for Leq’á:mel from 2009 until 2017, when she took a job at Katzie First Nation.
“It was a really hard decision to leave my community. I remember that very vividly,” Goulding said.
Now serving as the CAO of Katzie First Nation, Goulding was initially hired as a lands manager before a promotion to director of lands and economic development. In 2021, she received another promotion to chief administrative officer
“We've really built out our policies and our procedures and our administration, and we have a really good, well-oiled and functioning machine that has really streamlined all of the services that we're providing to the community,” Goulding said.
However, Goulding still knew she wanted to come back.
“I'm just grateful that I've been doing what I've been doing for all these years, because I couldn't imagine coming into this without any experience or skills that can kind of help guide the path forward
Goulding will continue in her role with Katzie First Nation while serving as chief at Leq’á:mel.
She also hopes future generations will be inspired to grow into leadership roles.
“We tend to struggle with finding enough people to fill positions, because those in our community who are able to work are working. So it's always top of my mind that we need to really work with the future generations so that they can get inspired at a young age to pursue leadership positions within their communities,” she said.
