The leadership of Tk’emlups for the next three years will be decided this weekend, with the main voting day taking place Saturday in the Chief and Band Council elections.

Kukpi7 Rosanne Casimir is shooting for her 3rd straight mandate, and is going one-on-one with current Band Councillor Joshua Gottfriedson.

This isn’t the first time they’ve faced one another for the top position in Tk’emlups.

Casimir got past Gottfriedson in the Chief’s race in 2018 — her first election as Kukpi7 after sitting on Tk’emlups Band Council for three terms before that.

Gottfriedson currently holds financial and land portfolios as Councillor, and has held positions with the Assembly of First Nations.

Issues around community safety and development are said to be a couple of the key factors in the race.

Voting on Tk’emlups began last Saturday with advanced voting, and has continued through the week with an online voting option afforded to the nearly 1,200 Band members eligible to vote.

There are 13 people listed as candidates for the seven Band Councillor positions to be filled.

Among them, four are incumbents seeking re-election.