https://www.facebook.com/1058286394030976/

Darlene Laboucan, Box 237, Hythe, AB (2026)

04/14/2026

𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤.

The grief. The anger. The heaviness that has settled over our Nation.

And honestly, I do not have the perfect words. I do not think anyone does right now.

What I do know is this.

We lost a young woman who had her whole life ahead of her. Nineteen years old. And that kind of loss shakes something deep inside you, something that no amount of time or words can fully reach.

I have been thinking about her family. About what they are carrying right now. About the people in Fox Lake who knew her, loved her, grew up beside her.

And I want them to know, you are not invisible in your grief. This Nation sees you.

I also know that grief and anger travel together. And right now there is a lot of both moving through our community. I understand that. I do not judge it. Pain needs somewhere to go.

But I want to gently offer something.

WE ARE Little Red River Cree Nation. We have survived things that should have broken us. We have held each other through the kind of pain that leaves marks. And we are still here. Still together. Still one people.

That is not nothing. That is everything.

I believe in the strength of this Nation. I believe in the kindness that lives in our people when we give it room to breathe. I believe that even in the darkest weeks and this has been one of them, love is still the most powerful thing we have.

Hold each other close right now.

Check on the people around you.

And know that you are not alone.

With all my love,
Darlene

🤍🙏

Photo not mine- https://www.therivr.net/mmiwg2-month-ongoing-struggle-highlighted-sarah-whalen-lunns-inuit-logo-strikes-a-chord-with-community/

04/08/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝟗𝟎 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.

I have spent years in leadership rooms. I have made hard decisions. I have sat with communities going through crisis. I have seen what happens when communication breaks down and I have seen what is possible when leadership shows up with humility and love.

What I have learned is this: you do not walk into a Nation and start listing what is broken. You walk in, you listen, you learn, and you stand alongside the people who have been doing the work.

There is good work happening in Little Red River. Our staff. Our programs. Our communities. That matters and I will honour it.

My goal in the first 90 days is simple.

𝐁𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐁𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥.

Create space for every voice. Elders, youth, families, business owners. Strengthen what is working. Support our teams. And make sure every decision we make reflects the people we serve.

Because that is what leadership is.

Not a title. Not a seat at a table.

A responsibility to show up every single day for the Nation that trusted you.

If you are ready for that kind of leadership, I am ready to serve.

Darlene Laboucan
For Chief
Little Red River Cree Nation
780 897-1011

04/07/2026

𝐎𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭, 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐩𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞'𝐬 𝐃𝐚𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐬.

A family in our community is grieving, and this is a time to be still and to honour that. People's Day will return but right now, what matters most is holding space for those who are hurting.

My thoughts are with the family during this time.

I will share new dates soon.

Thank you for your understanding.

With love,
Darlene

04/01/2026

𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠.

I am not here to divide this Nation.
I am not here to fight.
I am not here to tell anyone they do not belong.

I have seen what division costs a community. I have watched it pull families apart, stall decisions, and leave people feeling like they have to choose sides just to survive an election.

I refuse to add to that.

Every person in this Nation belongs here. On reserve or off. In Fox Lake, John D'Or Prairie, or Garden River. In High Level, Grande Prairie, or Edmonton. Every single one of us.

This election is not about tearing anyone down.

It is about building something better.

I am asking for your vote. But more than that, I am asking us to remember who we are to each other.

We are one Nation. One people.

And after May 12 — whoever wins — we will still be family.

Let us act like it.

Darlene Laboucan
For Chief — Little Red River Cree Nation
780 897-1011

03/31/2026

𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭.

This photo was taken in Ottawa, with Parliament Hill behind me. A lanyard around my neck, a smile on my face, but behind that moment was real work.

I was there alongside Chiefs, supporting, advising, and stepping in where needed. Sitting in rooms where decisions are made about our Nations, our governance, and our funding. Rooms where, too often, decisions about us are made without us being fully recognized as the sovereign Nations we are.

That reality is difficult. Canada still does not fully recognize our sovereignty, and yet the decisions made in those spaces impact every First Nation.

That is why it matters to be there. To understand. To speak up. To ensure our voices are present.

I have been in those rooms for 20 years.

And every time, I thought about home. About Little Red River. About what it would mean not just to be in the room, but to lead with the strength and direction of our people behind me.

That is why I am running.

Not because it is easy, it is not. The weight of this campaign, of asking for trust, of stepping into leadership, it is real.

But I did not spend 20 years learning, advocating, and standing in those spaces just to stay there.

I did it so I could bring that knowledge home.

Thank you to everyone who has reached out, shared support, and stood with me. It means more than I can express.

I am in this, fully.

Drop a ❤️ if you are with me on this journey.

Darlene Laboucan
For Chief, Little Red River Cree Nation
780 897-1011

03/24/2026

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞.

Not the candidate. Not the résumé. Not the title.

Just me, a Cree woman, sitting in my ribbon skirt, grounded in who I am and what I carry.

This skirt is not just about being a woman. It represents something deeper. It honours our Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, Two-Spirit people, and our men and boys. It carries the weight of those we have lost, and those we are still searching for. It carries the families who continue to wait for answers.

I wear it with purpose.

I have made a personal vow to always advocate for our people, for those who are missing, for those who were taken, and for the loved ones who continue to carry that pain. That commitment is part of who I am, not something separate from leadership.

When I decided to put my name forward for Chief, it was not just a political decision. It was a personal one. I chose to bring my whole self into this, my culture, my identity, my responsibilities, and everything this skirt represents.

The ribbon skirt is not just something I wear. It is something I carry.

It carries the women who came before me.
It carries the teachings I was given.
It carries a responsibility, to speak up, to stand firm, and to lead with heart.

I am a Cree woman. I grew up in Little Red River. I speak the language. And I am running for Chief not in spite of who I am, but because of it.

I have seen what happens when leadership loses its connection to the people. When decisions are made from a desk instead of from the heart. When the community feels managed instead of heard.

I will not be that kind of leader.

I will be the kind of Chief who sits with you. Who listens. Who shows up, not just when it is visible, but in the everyday moments that matter most.

On the days when this work feels heavy, and some days it does, I come back to this.

To who I am.
To where I come from.
To who I carry with me.

For our Elders.
For our youth.
For our women.
For our men and boys.
For our missing and our stolen.

I am not running to be small.

I am running to serve.

03/22/2026

"The greatest act of love for your people is to come home and do the work."

After much reflection, prayer, and guidance from my family, my Elders, and members of our Nation I have made the decision to put my name forward for Chief of Little Red River Cree Nation.

I did not arrive at this lightly.

I came forward with humility. With reverence for every leader who walked this path before me. And with a weight in my chest that only comes when you know something is not just a choice it is a calling.

Little Red River is my home. It is where I first learned what respect looks like. What kinship feels like. What it means to belong to something bigger than yourself. Every value I carry the love, the responsibility, the quiet stubbornness to keep going when things are hard was planted in me by this community.

I never forgot that. Not once. Not in 20 years of sitting in boardrooms, rebuilding governance systems, fighting for funding agreements, and holding organizations together through the hardest seasons.

I carried Little Red River into every room I ever entered.

Now I am asking to carry it forward as your Chief.

I am not asking for a title. I am asking for the honour of serving the Nation that made me.

I want to be a Chief who shows up. Who listens. Who sits with Elders and learns. Who looks young people in the eye and tells them the truth. Who walks alongside families not past them.

I believe in us. I believe in what we can build together when leadership is grounded in accountability, in culture, and in genuine care for one another.

In the weeks ahead, I am committed to a respectful, positive, and honest campaign. I welcome every voice even those who may not agree with me because our Nation's strength has always come from how we treat each other.

This campaign is not about me.

It is about every family in Fox Lake, John D'Or Prairie, and Garden River who deserves leadership that has already done the work and knows exactly what needs to change.

If you would like to connect, ask a question, or simply share what is on your heart I am here. Reach out to me directly at 780 897-1011.

With all my respect and love for this Nation,
Darlene Shelly Laboucan
Candidate for Chief — Little Red River Cree Nation

03/18/2026

Leadership stability during transitions.

Leadership changes can be challenging for Nations and Indigenous organizations. Whether it’s a CEO departure, a recruitment period, or an election cycle where leadership decisions pause, operations still need to continue and staff still need direction.

I offer interim CEO and executive oversight services on short-term contracts to help Nations maintain stability during these transition periods. My role is to ensure continuity of operations, support administrative leadership and staff, and help guide the organization while permanent leadership is being recruited or new leadership is being established.

During election periods, I can also provide independent oversight to ensure that operations continue smoothly while respecting governance protocols and avoiding major decisions during the transition.

This approach protects the Nation’s operations, supports staff, and ensures programs and services continue without disruption.

If your Nation or organization is navigating a leadership transition or preparing for an election period, reach out to me.

Book a discovery call and let’s talk!

Darlene Laboucan

04/14/2026

04/08/2026

04/07/2026

04/01/2026

03/31/2026

03/24/2026

03/22/2026

03/18/2026

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