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THE shíshálh NATION
THE NEW LEADERS
In 1986, the shíshálh Nation became the first Indigenous government in Canada to regain self-government. Thirty-nine years later, a new Chief and Council have taken the oath of office. Warren Paull returns for his third term. This is their story.
"Offering yourself to lead is an act of courage and commitment to our collective future."
— shíshálh Nation official statement, February 21, 2026 [1]
The shíshálh Nation occupies 515,000 hectares of the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia — from xwesam (Roberts Creek) in the southeast to x̱enichen (Jervis Inlet) in the north to ḵwekwenis (Lang Bay) in the southwest. Their swiya (world, territory) encompasses old-growth forest, Pacific coastline, mountain watershed, and the town of Sechelt, which sits on shíshálh Nation Lands under the terms of Canada's most significant Indigenous self-government agreement.
In 1986, the shíshálh Nation became the first Indigenous government in Canada to achieve self-government under federal legislation — the Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act (S.C. 1986, c. 27). [9] The Act created the shíshálh Nation Government District, transformed 33 former Indian Reserve parcels into shíshálh Nation Lands, and gave the Nation the powers of a municipality: the right to enact laws, bylaws, and taxes. No other First Nation in Canada had done this before. Many have followed since.
On February 21, 2026, the Nation completed its 2026 General Election. [1] Warren Paull was elected hiwus (Chief) with 200 votes. Jamel Paul, Benny Pierre Jr., Selina August, and Phil Paul were elected hihewus (Councillors). The oath of office was taken on February 23 in the makwam boardroom of the huham building in ch'atlich — the shíshálh name for Sechelt. [2]
These are the five people who will govern the shíshálh Nation for the next three years. Just Gerald Magazine spent time with their records, their histories, and their stated priorities. Here is what we found.
Porpoise Bay (alhtulich) — shíshálh Nation territory, Sunshine Coast, British Columbia.
The Five Leaders
Henry Warren Paull
200 votes — February 21, 2026Warren Paull is the most experienced elected leader in shíshálh Nation history. He has now served as hiwus three times — first elected in 2017, re-elected in 2020, and returned to office in February 2026 after a three-year absence. His 2026 margin of 39 votes over incumbent Lenora Joe was the largest of his three victories. [1][2]
Paull’s first election in 2017 was won by 14 votes and carried an immediate policy consequence: he ended the restriction that had prevented Nation members living off-reserve from voting or standing for office. That single decision changed the electorate and the character of shíshálh governance permanently.
In 2023, Paull ran for a third consecutive term and lost to yalxwemult Lenora Joe, who became the first woman elected hiwus in shíshálh history. He returned in 2026 and won by the largest margin of his career. [10]
His priorities for the 2026 term include constitutional amendments to the Nation’s self-government framework, expanded voting eligibility, and the ongoing Foundation Agreement with the Sunshine Coast Regional District — a relationship that positions shíshálh Nation as a full partner in regional governance rather than a stakeholder at the margins.
Paull is known for his measured public voice. After his razor-thin 2020 re-election, he said: “I’m duly humbled in the sense that when it’s that close it means that you may have done well but there are other visions — competing visions — that may take the nation in a different direction and I have to mind that.” [3] He has minded it. He is back.
Jamel Paul
Elected February 21, 2026Jamel Paul brings formal academic training in business and human resources to the Council table. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration and an Advanced Diploma in Strategic Human Resource Management, both from Capilano University — the same institution where fellow Councillor Selina August studied.
Paul's background in HR and administration is directly applicable to the governance challenges facing shíshálh Nation: workforce development, housing policy, and the management of a Nation government that operates with the powers of a municipality under the 1986 Self-Government Act. His election represents a generation of shíshálh leaders who have pursued formal post-secondary education and returned to serve their community with those credentials.
Benny Pierre Jr.
Elected February 21, 2026Benedict Pierre IV — known as Benny Pierre Jr., traditional name Tsesote — carries a family legacy of leadership into the Council chamber. His grandfather and father both served as respected council members. He is the third generation of his family to answer that call. [4]
Pierre spent nine years at Heidelberg Materials (formerly Lafarge), starting as a labourer and working his way up to shift boss — a role that required him to manage people, coordinate operations, and make decisions under pressure. He is a husband to Alyssa and father of three boys: Kyson, Sebastian, and Parker. [4]
His stated priorities are the ones closest to daily life: investment in youth sport (soccer has deep roots in shíshálh culture), in-home support for elders, and housing affordability in the Selma Park subdivision. These are not abstract policy positions. They are the things he hears about at the kitchen table. [4]
Selina August
Elected February 21, 2026Selina August — traditional name lhayawxmawt — is one of the most experienced members of the new council. She was first elected in April 2017, re-elected in 2020, lost her seat in 2023, and returned in 2026. She has also served as General Manager of Projects and Properties at Tsain-ko Group of Companies, the shíshálh Nation’s economic development arm. [5]
Her career began in Vancouver, working at the federal office of Indigenous and Northern Affairs, where she served the needs of British Columbia’s 198 First Nations. A supervisor’s advice brought her home: serve your own people. She returned to Sechelt, worked as executive secretary for Chief and Council, oversaw the Nation’s lease lands, and was elected to the Sechelt Band Housing Authority before her first election to Council. [5]
August studied at Capilano University’s Sunshine Coast campus, first taking shíshálh language and culture classes, then enrolling in the Bachelor of Business Administration programme. She has described that experience as transformative: “I felt like I was getting my identity back. I’ve always been proud of being shíshálh but learning where we come from and how our ancestors survived was amazing.” [5]
She represented shíshálh Nation in the Day Scholar Class Action Suit — the residential schools justice case that secured recognition and compensation for Indigenous students who attended residential schools as day students rather than boarders. It was not a small thing.
Phil Paul
Elected February 21, 2026Phil Paul is the only returning member of the previous council, having served under Chief Lenora Joe from 2023 to 2026. His continuity on the new council provides institutional memory and transition stability as four new members find their footing.
Paul is a millwright by trade — a precision maintenance professional whose work involves keeping industrial machinery operational. The discipline required by that trade — methodical, detail-oriented, safety-conscious — translates directly to the work of governance. He has also maintained a connection to the Sunshine Coast Regional District, the body that manages regional services across the Sunshine Coast.
His re-election signals that the shíshálh community values continuity alongside change. The 2026 council is not a clean sweep. It is a considered balance.
515,000 Hectares. One Language. Thirty-Nine Years of Self-Government.
The shíshálh swiya stretches from xwesam (Roberts Creek) in the southeast to x̱enichen (Jervis Inlet) in the north to ḵwekwenis (Lang Bay) in the southwest — 515,000 hectares of Pacific Coast, old-growth forest, and mountain watershed. [6]
The Nation's total population is 1,692 (2025), with 607 members living on reserve and 1,054 living off reserve. The decision by Warren Paull in 2017 to extend voting rights to off-reserve members was not a procedural adjustment. It was a recognition that the Nation's people are not bounded by its land base.
The language of the shíshálh people is she shashishalhem — a Coast Salish language most closely related to Squamish, Halkomelem, and Nooksack. In the 1970s, shíshálh elders began a revival effort in collaboration with UBC linguist Ron Beaumont, producing the Sechelt Dictionary. [6]
The tems swiya Museum in ch'atlich (Sechelt) is owned and operated by the shíshálh Nation — a cultural heritage institution that holds the material record of a people who have lived on this coast since time immemorial.
A Timeline of the shíshálh Nation
Four main shíshálh settlements
ḵalpilin (Pender Harbour), ts'unay (Deserted Bay), x̱enichen (Jervis Inlet), and tewankw near alhtulich (Porpoise Bay). The shíshálh people have occupied their swiya — 515,000 hectares of the Sunshine Coast — since time immemorial.
Smallpox epidemics
European contact brought catastrophic disease. Smallpox swept through the shíshálh settlements, causing severe population decline. The Nation survived. The knowledge survived. The language survived.
Language revival begins
shíshálh elders initiated a revival of she shashishalhem — the Coast Salish language most closely related to Squamish, Halkomelem, and Nooksack. They collaborated with UBC linguist Ron Beaumont, who had been studying the language since 1970. Beaumont published a grammar guide, she shashishalhem: the Sechelt Language, in 1985. A comprehensive 1,000-page Sechelt Dictionary followed in 2011 — the foundation of all subsequent language education.
The Self-Government Act
The shíshálh Nation became the first Indigenous nation in Canada to regain self-government under the Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act (S.C. 1986, c. 27). [9] The Act created the shíshálh Nation Government District — 33 former reserve parcels, now shíshálh Nation Lands — and gave the Nation the powers of a municipality: the right to enact laws, bylaws, and taxes.
BC Treaty Process
shíshálh Nation entered treaty negotiations independently with Canada and British Columbia. Reached Stage 3 (Framework Agreement) by August 1995. Negotiations stalled at Stage 4 and remain paused — a reminder that self-government and treaty resolution are not the same thing.
Foundation Agreement with BC
October 4, 2018: shíshálh Nation and the Province of British Columbia signed a Foundation Agreement — a new framework for the relationship between the Nation and the Province, building on the 1986 self-government model.
Updated Self-Government Legislation
Royal Assent granted June 23, 2022. Canada and shíshálh Nation marked the historic update to the original 1986 Act — modernising the self-government framework after 36 years. [7]
39 Years of Self-Government
October 2025: shíshálh Nation marked 39 years of self-government — the longest-running Indigenous self-government in Canada. The anniversary was noted by the Coast Reporter and the Nation’s own communications. [8]
First woman elected hiwus
yalxwemult Lenora Joe defeated incumbent Warren Paull (166 votes to 105) to become the first woman ever elected hiwus of the shíshálh Nation. She shares her traditional name with her grandmother, also named yalxwemult. Her election was historic. [10][11]
2026 General Election
Warren Paull elected hiwus with 200 votes, defeating incumbent yalxwemult Lenora Joe (161 votes) by a 39-vote margin — his largest victory. [1][2] Jamel Paul, Benny Pierre Jr., Selina August, and Phil Paul elected hihewus. Oath of office taken February 23, 2026, in the makwam boardroom of the huham building, ch'atlich (Sechelt). [2]
The shíshálh Nation did not wait for Canada to give them self-government. They negotiated it, legislated it, and have governed under it for thirty-nine years. That is not a footnote in Canadian history. That is the story.
Warren Paull has now been elected Chief three times. Selina August has served on Council, left, and returned. Benny Pierre Jr. carries his grandfather's name and his father's example into the chamber. Jamel Paul brings a BBA and a strategic HR diploma to a government that manages housing, infrastructure, and economic development for nearly 1,700 people. Phil Paul provides the continuity that every transition requires.
The Sunshine Coast is one of the most beautiful places on earth. The shíshálh Nation has governed it — and themselves — longer and better than most people know. The Just Gerald Best Days Ever series exists to tell stories that deserve to be told. This is one of them.
shishalh.com — 2026 General Election: Statement of Elected Candidates (February 21, 2026)
Coast Reporter (Jordan Copp) — 'shíshálh Nation 2026 election: Warren Paull new chief' (February 23, 2026)
Coast Reporter — 'Warren Paull re-elected as shíshálh chief' (February 17, 2020)
Coast Reporter — 'shíshálh Nation byelection candidate Q&A: Benedict Pierre IV' (February 2, 2024)
Capilano University — 'Selina August: A voice for her people' (June 16, 2017)
Wikipedia — 'shíshálh Nation' (accessed March 8, 2026)
Canada.ca — 'Canada and shíshálh Nation mark Royal Assent of historic self-government legislation' (June 23, 2022)
Coast Reporter — 'shíshálh Nation marks 39 years of self-government' (October 9, 2025)
Sechelt Indian Band Self-Government Act, S.C. 1986, c. 27 — Parliament of Canada
Powell River Peak / Coast Reporter — 'yalxwemult Lenora Joe elected as chief of shíshálh Nation' (February 19, 2023)
My Coast Now — 'First female hiwus for the shíshálh nation reflects on being elected' (March 8, 2023)