After much discussion on July 15, the Chiefs-in-Assembly in Halifax at the Assembly of First Nations meeting decided the next election for National Chief will be held in December in Winnipeg.
This will extend the next term of national chief by six months. The position was left open after the sudden resignation of Shawn Atleo May 2.
The chiefs were presented with three options. The election could have been held in October, December or the position could remain open until the regularly scheduled election in July 2015.
Some preferred to appoint an interim chief, providing him or her with the authority of national chief, until that time, but the July date seemed too far off, considering the country will be in full national election mode with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his ruling Conservatives seeking another mandate from the Canadian public.
One chief said to put off the election of a national chief would be a detriment to first nations people.
“We need a rudder for our ship.”
He said an election in December would give time for the proper mechanisms to be put in place and allow for proper campaigns to play out and “emotions to lessen.”
The AFN meeting in May was a tense and testy affair which resulted in the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council sending an open letter to the chiefs calling upon respectful communication and treatment going forward. The letter was especially critical of the abusive behavior endured by BC Regional Chief Jody Wilson-Raybould. NTC said some chiefs showed unacceptable discourtesy during Wilson-Raybould’s time addressing the chiefs.
See Open Letter here: http://www.hashilthsa.com/news/2014-06-11/open-letter-assembly-first-nat...
It soon seemed apparent that the general consensus from the floor of the assembly was that a national chief must be in place well before 2015 to give voice to the many pressing issues first nations would like to put before the Canadian electorate.
A representative from Grassy Narrows First Nations said chiefs need to talk to Justin Trudeau, leader of the federal Liberal Party, the “government in waiting.” The last number of years with Harper, said the chief, was enough to know what he is capable of doing.
The October date would have given enough time for organizers to pull an AFN election together, but only just. Some chiefs were concerned that the AFN began the fiscal year in deficit, and that financial stress was further exacerbated by the fact that Aboriginal Affairs Canada is holding back funds until a national chief is in place.
Said a representative from the Ktunaxa nation, the chiefs have to be cognizant of the strain the organization is under.
One speaker said AANDC was “blackmailing us.” AANDC says the organization has to have a national chief in place or no funding will flow and the funds allotted to the AFN will go back to Treasury.
Other chiefs said the AFN needed to get its house in order before a new chief was elected. There was a reason Atleo resigned and the organization needed to understand those reasons and make changes.
Chief Gordon Beardy of Muskrat Dam First Nationsaid he was leery about electing a national chief at the moment, and he wasn’t ready to vote for any of the options presented.
It was soon recognized by the chair that the December date had the majority of support and a motion was put to the room and the chiefs voted for it. But no sooner had the motion been passed than there were concerns raised about process and procedure, with confusion from some quarters about what had just happened.
One chief talked about the “fundamental flaw” in how the resolution was brought forward and the confusion caused by putting the three options forward. He said the organization may not have got the result they had hoped for.
He said there was dysfunction like this at every assembly.
Social media commentators also said the AFN wasn’t following its own rules. One comment described the discussion as a “gong show.” Others on social media said the decision to extend the chief’s term was a breach of the AFN Charter, and could be open to legal challenge.
The chair finally closed discussion, saying the motion had passed and he called for a break before proceeding to the discussion on restructuring the AFN.
During that discussion, the chair was acting AFN spokesman Ghislain Picard, regional chief of Quebec and Labrador. It flowed from AFN Resolution 20, passed in 2013, that called upon the AFN to establish a Task Group, analyzing a way to structure the AFN along Nation-based caucuses, rather than regional Provincial – Territorial Organizations caucuses.
“We need a proper definition of what “nation” means,” he said. The current Charter refers to the AFN consisting of First Nations, but is actually made up of Indian Act bands. The discussion on this was adjourned to the following day (after Ha-Shilth-Sa press deadline) when procedural issues again entangled the group.
Chief Beardy again said the group needed to find a solution to its internal difficulties, saying he feels sorry for next national chief because without changes in the AFN, the chiefs will 'just tear them apart'.
“We did that to Shawn Atleo,” he said.
