Who will be the next AFN National Chief?
- Jeanelle Mandes | December 04, 2014
Perry Bellegarde, current Chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN), is again a candidate for Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief.
Chief Bellegarde, from Little Black Bear First Nation, says the two main issues facing the AFN are looking at the situation where Canada is ranked sixth in terms of the United Nations Human Development Index (HDI) and to create solutions for the young Indigenous population in Canada.
“When you apply those same indices to us as Indigenous people, we rank 63rd. So there’s a huge social economic gap that exists and you combine that with the lack of political will to address that gap,” says Bellegarde. “The other one is we have a fast growing young Indigenous population so the challenge for us is to create situations off and on the reserve. So those young people have a vision for hope that there is going to be a brighter future.”
Bellegarde says if selected as National Chief, he plans on addressing those two issues by bridging the gap through key investments in education and training. “We also need to get back into another approach or process that will lead to investments from the feds and the province,” added Bellegarde. “You need to have an approach that’s respectful and you’re not always going to agree on issues but you have to make sure they are educated and aware of these issues First Nations people,” he says. “You have to begin by educating people and both the provincial and federal government. The relationship with this government is so unnecessarily confrontational,” he adds.
Bellegarde says the strongest asset he’s bringing to the table is the fact that he gets things done and accomplished.
“At the reserve community level, I led a team as Chief. [When I] was Chief of Little Black Bear, we were third party management, I got out of third party management within eight months. We were a First Nation that didn’t have new housing for 13 years, we re-qualified for housing, and we built relationships with industries even building the new Tim Horton’s gas bar in Fort Qu’Appelle on our urban reserve there. I give examples the fact that I get things done at every level I’ve been at,” says Bellegarde.
Former Treaty 3 Grand Chief, Leon Jourdain has also thrown his hat in the ring for National Chief.
Jourdain says the main issues facing the AFN are the credibility of the trust and AFN needs direction.“Our vision of how we’re going to reorganize across this country not as reservations but as nations and treaty partners,” says Jourdain.
He says Canada’s Indigenous people have to unite under the treaties and treaty relationships and create economies.
“We will rebuild our nation on the foundation of our own…constitution. [We have] to bring back the Indigenous Constitution and build our nations based on that,” he says.
Jourdain says his job if elected as National Chief is to lay the foundation down for the future generations of Indigenous peoples in Canada.
“The AFN has to evolve as the nations begin to develop and we have to think out of the box and to come out of the box takes courage and understanding of where to go from there,” add Jourdain.
He says the strongest asset he’s bringing to the table is experience years in leadership and coming to the AFN with a vision rather than a platform.
“The current government is going to figure how they’re going to deal with us,” says Jourdain.
He also adds that he is a big supporter of having an inquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women.
Ghislain Picard, AFN Regional Chief for Quebec/Labrador, is in the running for Assembly of First Nations (AFN) National Chief. Picard says the two main issues facing the AFN right now are the structure of the organization and that the AFN has to gain more interest from First Nations people and the engagement of the Federal government.
“In light of the events over the past few months it’s how to reorganize and reconstruct or reform the AFN. We need to address this,” he says. “At the same time, based on what transpired from the last few months. What are the conditions to engage government and to me, it is challenge that is carried before us as chiefs across the country.”
Picard says he plans to address the issues by responding to what all First Nations peoples are wanting which he believes is important.
“That’s probably one of the most important issues that we face and this is right across the country. Our peoples should be at the forefront in terms of engagement with us, as leaders and nations,” he says.
Picard says there is a need to look at the current structure of the AFN. He says this is a reality that needs to be taken into account.
“The reality of the day is quite different from 30 years ago. There’s a lot more people in urban settings that also want to be heard and listened to.”
Picard says if the federal government does not want to address certain issues such as an inquiry for missing and murdered Indigenous women that the AFN should deal with it instead.
“If they’re not going to do it, well let’s do it ourselves. That’s one way to challenge the current government. At the same time, I think the way this government has been dealing with our issue for the past eight years is really challenged [our people] to our unity across the country,” says Picard.
In a year’s time Canada will be having the federal election. Picard says that will present the AFN with good opportunities for the First Nations people to come together.
“Maybe take on that challenge like develop our own platform; we don’t need to run as a political party. But we can certainly get involved in the federal election based on our terms. To me, there’s nothing preventing us from developing our own platform as to how we see our nations, communities and our peoples.”
Picard’s strongest asset that he will be bringing to the table is to connect all opinions to become one common challenge. He says coming from his background, he comes from a region that’s very much diverse with ten different nations working in both official languages which is a part of their region’s challenges.
“I think I have the capacity of bridging all different opinions because that’s what I’ve been dealing with all the years I’ve been the regional chief. I like that challenge, it certainly is an experience that helps you grow to be able to listen to peoples and their different points of view on any issue,” he adds.
The AFN election runs from December 9-11, 2014 in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Related stories:
- Bellegarde formally announces AFN run
- AFN appoints interim spokesperson following Atleo's resignation
- Shawn Atleo resigns as AFN National Chief