A debate for candidates running for the 2023 Six Nations of the Grand River Elected Band Council (SNEC) was held on October 25, 2023 at the Six Nations Community Hall. The general election will be on November 4, 2023.
The two nominees running for Chief of SNEC were Steve Williams and Sherri Lynn Hill. Williams was Chief of SNEC from January 7th 1992 to December 5th 1995 and Hill has been on council since December 3rd 2013 however this is her first attempt at running for Chief of SNEC.
Each councillor running for a seat at the table on SNEC was given five minutes to introduce themselves and communicate why they should be chosen to be on SNEC. Each nominee running for Chief of SNEC was also given a series of questions which were produced by community members both online and in written form.
As questions built up there were several common themes that occurred and both candidates agreed upon, such as, there must be transparency and accountability within SNEC, more elder support, and mental health support. The lack of communication with the community as a whole was also addressed multiple times throughout the night, so much so that Dean Hill, who is running to be a councillor on SNEC addressed it during his introduction speech by saying he couldn't believe there had been nothing shared on SNEC Facebook page about the debate. Facebook is where most of Six Nations gets their updates on current events being scheduled by SNEC however this particular event was not promoted on the Facebook page so the community could be aware of the debate.
The evening was moderated and shared on multiple platforms such as Thru The Red Door, which was doing a live stream and shared for community members on Facebook, CKRZ The Voice of the Grand, where it was shared on 100.3FM radio and as well as Turtle Island News being a mediator and additional news print outlet.