Meeting of First Nations in uncharted territory as annual meeting begins in Halifax
The Assembly of First Nations (AFN) kicks off its 44th annual general meeting in Halifax on Tuesday, and it remains to be seen whether it will get back to business or whether the group’s tricky leadership dispute will dominate the agenda.
National Chief RoseAnne Archibald was impeached at a June 28 virtual meeting in a vote attended by 231 delegates, fewer than half of the 634 eligible First Nations. There are still 400 eligible leaders who have not had their say.
Archibald, who is Cree from Taykwa Tagamou Nation in northern Ontario and the first woman to land the job, suggested her ouster was a coup fomented by liberal partisans and her predecessor’s loyalists. She has urged sympathetic leaders to go to Halifax and reverse the decision and called for an investigation into government involvement in assembly affairs.
While declining interview requests, Archibald said in a Facebook live video last week that she was still considering whether to go to Halifax. She did not immediately respond when asked by email on Monday if she had decided to attend.
Can Archibald be restored?
To remove a national leader, the AFN charter requires 60 percent of those present to pass a vote of no confidence. It makes no mention of the prospect of an appeal. According to the group’s bylaws, the resignation of a board member is final.
Given the lack of precedent, some Archibald supporters speculated that a resolution endorsing her leadership — introduced on June 28 but dropped after the no-confidence vote — could resurface.
Scott McLeod, head of Ontario’s Nipissing First Nation and a leading opponent of Archibald, said it would be “necessary” to resubmit the resolution.
“That was already discussed,” he said Monday from Halifax.
“I don’t know how many times we have to do this. Right now that resolution doesn’t even make sense because she’s not the national chief anymore. I would suggest that that resolution be resolved.”
Joe Alphonse, Head of the Government of Tl’etinqox-t’in and Chairman of the National Government of Tŝilhqot’in, supported the June 28 resolution in support of Archibald. He said he was disgusted with the way the AFN director handled Archibald’s impeachment.
He urged her to fight on.
“Hire a legal team. Challenge them,” he said.
‘I’m betting on RoseAnne. She is an honorable person. Pack rats like to run with pack rats.’
On Sunday, regional leaders named New Brunswick regional chief Joanna Bernard as interim national chief. Bernard was a vocal opponent of Archibald, who slammed her at the June 28 meeting for not living up to the high expectations women leaders had of her.
“It is critical that the Assembly of First Nations resume its important work to advance First Nations priorities,” Bernard said in a press release.
Bernard was not available for an interview on Monday.
The fate of the forensic audit is unclear
The AFN is one of the largest and most prominent Indigenous advocacy organizations in Canada. The executive committee of 10 regional leaders and the national chief issues instructions to the industry or secretariat.
Archibald’s battle with the government of former national head Perry Bellegarde (2014-2021) was long-running and well-documented.
It began in December 2020 when she supported a resolution calling for an investigation into gender discrimination at the AFN and escalated in February 2021 when her Chiefs of Ontario umbrella group passed a resolution calling for an independent financial review at the AFN.
Later that month, the Bellegarde-chaired executive voted to place Archibald, who was the regional chief of Ontario, for an investigation after multiple AFN employees came forward with allegations of bullying and harassment against her.
Archibald always maintained the timing of reprisals — a tit-for-tat counterpunch provoked by her call for the financial inquiry — but the AFN insisted the two things were separate.
The investigation hit a wall and was not concluded after no one filed a complaint in writing, citing fears of reprisals. Archibald won the AFN’s main national election in July 2021 on a platform that included a pledge to clean up the organization.
The AFN director voted to re-examine her in spring 2022 after four of her senior staffers filed complaints against her, followed by a fifth. The regional chiefs tried to have her suspended, but Archibald convinced the chiefs to reverse it and conduct a forensic audit on her allegations of corruption.
The second investigation found that she was guilty of two counts of harassment and five counts of retaliation. Archibald again dismissed the investigation as a distraction from her campaign to stamp out alleged financial misconduct.
In a video posted to Facebook Monday, RoseAnne Archibald said Assembly of First Nations chiefs “disregarded our holy ways” on June 28 when they voted to depose her as national head. Archibald appealed to her supporters to contact their respective leaders and councils to request her reinstatement as national head and advocate for a forensic audit she had previously requested in AFN finance under her predecessors.
Judy Wilson, former head of the Neskonlith Indian Band in BC, attended the June 28 meeting and will be a delegate in Halifax.
The national chief’s fate should have been handled personally, she said, adding that the chiefs have not yet received full reports detailing the nature of Archibald’s misdeeds.
“There’s still the feeling that it’s not 100 percent settled,” she said.
“It just seemed kind of rushed.”
Meanwhile, as harassment complaints progressed, the forensic audit stalled for a year.
Archibald has claimed that as of February 2021, the AFN director has spent about $2 million on investigations and legal fees to oust her.
Khelsilem, president of British Columbia’s Squamish Nation Council and chair of the volunteer-based AFN committee that promotes forensic audit, said last week it was “a real challenge” to get work done because they lacked resources.
The Khelsilem Chiefs Committee on Charter Renewal will release a report on Tuesday recommending structural changes to the AFN through changes to the charter.
“We believe many of our recommendations address the concerns and challenges the AFN has faced in recent years, both administratively, financially and in terms of governance,” he said Monday.
