Steve Vital is starting his second term as chief of the Nahanni Butte Dene Band with confidence that he has the trust of the people in his community.
After all, he most likely wouldn't have been acclaimed for the position if he didn't.
"Nobody even considered trying to put their name in [to run against me]," he said. "It was all good feedback. Why fix something that's not broken?"
Vital, who became first became chief in December of 2020, called for an election himself because he didn't want "things go hidden from members." In the end, however, nobody stepped up to run against him, and he was officially acclaimed on Dec. 9.
The 44-year-old father of three accomplished a lot over the course of his first term as chief. With the help of band manager Soham Srimani and a hard-working staff, he got the community of just under 100 people its first post office and a new arbour, among other things.
He also helped add 17 homes to the community, which he considers the biggest accomplishment of his first term.
"[The biggest achievement was addressing] the overcrowding situation, and just getting the younger generation into their own homes, to start their own family instead of starting their own family and still residing with their parents," he said.
"When you go through the community and you see all these new houses and all this new infrastructure, it feels good that that this is accomplished."
As Vital begins his second term as chief, his top priority remains the creation of an all-season bridge.
Creating an all-season bridge would have many benefits, he said. For one, it will significantly lower the cost of living, as goods would no longer need to be shipped by air during the months when the isolated community is not accessible by ice road. It would also reduce the anxiety residents feel while they wait for the ice road to open in the fall and early winter, the chief added.
Perhaps most importantly, it would make it much easier to evacuate the community in the event of emergency.
"If an emergency situation happens, and you don't have a bridge, how will people leave if the airport isn't operational?" he said. "That's the biggest challenge that we're concerned about SA国际影视传媒� Soham and I."
Vital concedes that the bridge is a "massive" undertaking, and that it will likely be some time before it comes to fruition. However, progress is being made. The federal government has already funded a feasibility for the project, which is now complete, which means the only thing left to do SA国际影视传媒� aside from the actual construction of the bridge SA国际影视传媒� is finding a way to pay for it.
"The homework is done now," the chief said. "This will be a massive project, but we're engaging with both the federal government and GNWT to get his done. Right now, there is no commitment from any parties, but we're engaging with them."
Outside of the creation of an all-season bridge, Vital said one of the other big priorities for his second term is road work. Specifically, he hopes to raise the roads in the community by about two feet, which he hopes will "prevent flooding."
"It'll act as a barrier around the community," he said. "We got some drainage put in, and some one-way culverts, so when the water goes up, we shut the valves, and it doesn't flood the community area."
That will be a big project in its own right, but it should be much easier to complete than the proposed bridge. In fact, construction could begin quite soon.
"I think we might get started on that this coming summer," the chief said.
There is still a lot that Vital hopes to accomplish, and almost none of it will be easy, but he is motivated by a desire to help his community, and the next generation SA国际影视传媒� including his daughter, who has told him she hopes to be chief one day. He supports his daughter's goal of serving as chief SA国际影视传媒� as long as she "treats the community as family" SA国际影视传媒� but is happy to stay in the role for as long as his fellow residents need him.
"I'll keep pushing if the people are happy," he said. "The motivation is just seeing the smiles on people's faces."
