'The shelter should be moved': Mark Arcand changes tone on shelter after election to third term as STC chief

Mark Arcand was re-elected to a third term as Tribal Chief of the Saskatoon Tribal Council (STC).

Arcand was elected by STC’s seven member communities at a Treaty Assembly vote on Thursday.

“The people are going to be rewarded by all of us working together, and that’s where the Saskatoon Tribal Council is; we’re united, and we work together to help people,” Arcand said shortly after learning the results of Thursday’s vote.

Speaking to media after the election, Arcand said his focus will continue to be on homelessness.

The STC currently runs the city’s largest emergency shelter, a facility that has drawn the ire of some its neighbours in Fairhaven.

For several years, Arcand bitterly defended the shelter and its residents from accusations that they have contributed to increased crime in the neighbourhood, or that he colluded with the city to open the facility without consulting area residents.

Now, Arcand says he’s open to discussing moving the shelter — if there’s a suitable spot for it.

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“The shelter should be moved, but it has to be the proper location. It has to be what's right for the community,” he said.

But it won’t happen overnight, Arcand says.

“I don't know how long that will take, but at the end of the day, we look at how hard it was to find the other shelter. And at the end of the day, I think we've got a lot of work to do on pre-planning, instead of making these snap decisions at a council and doing a lot of these things.”

Two candidates were in the running to be tribal chief for the next four years, Mark Arcand of Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and Robert/Bobby Daniels of Mistawasis First Nation.

Of 75 delegate votes cast, 40 were for Arcand and 35 for Daniels.

Arcand was first elected to the position of tribal chief in 2017, following two terms as vice-chief. He previously worked as an STC labour force development partnership manager and coordinator of youth sport, culture and recreation initiatives.

Arcand is originally from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation and has lived in Saskatoon for over two decades.