Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte members are heading to the polls this Saturday

The 2021 Tyendinaga Mohawk Council election will take place this Saturday.

Members of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte are encouraged to cast their ballots to decide who will fill the roles of chief and council.

Incumbent Chief Don Maracle is running for re-election after serving as chief for 28 years, and as a council member for an additional 12 years.

“The community knows that I’ve always been very dedicated and will leave no stone unturned to achieve success,” says Maracle. “I don’t like a lot of rhetoric, I like results. And, you know, you can talk a good line, but at the end of the day, you’re measured by what you accomplish. Not by what you say, but it’s what you do and what the results are that benefit the people.”

Local business owner, Andrew Miracle, will run against Maracle for chief.

“Look, look around,” says Miracle. “Look at what I’ve done, look at the things that I’ve created. I’ve created multi-million dollar businesses, and I can still continue to do that. I have friends that are multimillionaires that are willing to assist and willing to work with us. Let’s let them work with us.”

Both candidates say they want to prioritize long-term care homes, safe drinking water and job creation as platform points, but have different views on how to succeed.

Maracle says he would also like to focus efforts on affordable housing, post-secondary education funding and continuing the “good working relationships” that have been created with the federal and provincial governments.

“There’s just a lot of challenges that we have to rise to,” says Maracle. “And I think if we have a dedicated leader in council, then you can make progress. I’m very proud of the progress that we’ve made in terms of in our community.”

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Miracle believes the issue that members care about is a lack of communication between the council and its members. And he says development within the area would benefit the community through job creation.

“35 years (I was) the only gas station here on the territory,” says Miracle. “Now we have about 30 gas stations. We have enough gas stations, but now we have to start doing other things.”

The full political platforms for each candidate can be found on the election webpage.

When asked what voters should consider when casting their ballot, this is what the two candidates had to say:

“We are the people that control the government,” says Miracle. “You are the people that should have the say. You haven’t had this, but you’re going to have the say in this government.”

“If I have your continued confidence, vote for me,” says Maracle. “And let’s all work together and continue to make our community strong and prosperous.”

Members can cast their ballots at Quinte Mohawk School from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., or in advance by mail-in ballot.

While the Quinte Mohawk School was shut down Friday for contact tracing and sanitization after a couple of positive COVID cases were identified, members are being assured that there is no additional risk posed to voting at the school on Saturday.

Results of the vote are expected to be announced Sunday morning.