More than 1,000 delegates from 74 Saskatchewan First Nations voted for the status quo at Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Peoples (FSIN) Thursday’s General Assembly in Saskatoon. Incumbent Bobby Cameron beat out former third deputy Aly Bear to remain at the helm of the organization. This is his fourth term as chief.

Part of Cameron’s message after winning was aimed at young people around the drug and alcohol addiction crisis.

“It’s getting to a point where 100 per cent of our First Nations will one day defeat that demon of alcohol and drugs. One day,” Cameron said.

“This is what our ancestors wanted, what our people have wanted for decades and decades and decades.”

Cameron did not say whether he had a plan to achieve this or how the FSIN would be involved.

David Pratt successfully defended his position as First Deputy Chief and former Chief of the Red Earth Cree Nation, Fabian Head joins the executive for the first time as Third Deputy Chief. Cameron won 765 votes to Bear’s 258.

Pratt secured a resounding victory with 649 votes over his nearest challenger, Jocelyn Campbell Chaplin’s 125. Fabian Head also won 507 votes, with the remainder being a handful of challengers.

None of the winning bosses spoke to the media about the problems facing the organization

It was a controversial election, not unlike the FSIN itself this year.

None of the successful bosses spoke to the media about a myriad of issues facing the organization, including a forensic audit launched against him by Indigenous Services Canada.

Cameron, who has served three consecutive terms, has been dogged by allegations that he should not even be eligible to stand for election because of a previous criminal conviction. Cameron was convicted of breaking and entering in 1993. He did not address the issue in his brief speech Thursday.

After the vote, but before the votes were counted, flyers with a likeness of Aly Bear were found on vehicles near the convention center, with derogatory statements about the former executive member. In his acceptance speech, Cameron acknowledged the tumultuous campaign.

“We denounce any political attack of any kind. We are totally opposed to this. We always wanted to run a clean campaign, a good campaign,” Cameron told his supporters.

Each candidate, winner or loser, had two minutes to speak after the results were revealed. However, the defeated Bear left the convention after the votes were counted and did not take the opportunity to address the crowd.

The FSIN also faced criticism during the election campaign for not being sufficiently accountable or transparent. An example came after the swearing-in, as none of the winning executive members made themselves available to reporters for questions.

Regardless of the outcome, the leadership will continue under some kind of cloud. In March, Indigenous Services Canada announced plans to conduct a forensic audit of FSIN’s finances. The investigation is set to cover a five-year period starting in 2019. No time frame has been set for the audit to be completed.