AFN Chief won’t seek re-election

SASKATOON, Sask. — Assembly of First Nations Chief Perry Bellegarde will not seek re-election in July.

Bellegarde announced in a Monday morning twitter thread that he will step down from his role, saying he informed the Chiefs of Canada of his decision on Sunday night.

“Being National Chief of the Assembly of First Nations, has been the greatest job I could have imagined,” Bellegarde wrote on social media. “Issues and concerns that we used to talk about only among ourselves, around the kitchen table, are now out there in the media. Every day. At the centre of public debate.”

In a series of tweets, Bellegarde pointed to the completion of the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, and the ongoing implementation of its calls to justice.

He referenced the royal acclamation of bills on Indigenous languages and child and family services and new funding as key accomplishments of his term.

He also nodded to the introduction of legislation implementing the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which the House of Commons tabled last week.

“These are profound changes. We should celebrate them. And we should draw inspiration from them. Because we did this together. I believe in my heart that there is a deeper, more profound shift underway in Canadian society,” he wrote.

Bellegarde was elected as AFN National Chief in 2014, representing about 900,000 First Nations people on the national stage and taking a prominent role in policy advocacy.

Bellegarde, 58, is from Little Black Bear First Nation in southern Saskatchewan, where he served as councillor and chief. He also served as tribal chair of the Touchwood-File Hills-Qu'Appelle Tribal Council.

From there, he became chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations — now known as the Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations — and Saskatchewan regional chief for the Assembly of First Nations.

He will be “excited and anxious” as he addresses the Chiefs of Canada at their Annual General Assembly tomorrow, he wrote. He also promised to spend the remainder of his time in office on advocacy.

AFN elections are held every three years. Bellegarde's successor will work with the highest levels of the federal government in an effort to influence policy affecting First Nations.

“We must reach out to our non-Indigenous brothers and sisters who understand that there can be no reconciliation without transformation. We need to mobilize our allies in government — no matter what party they belong to — who have the courage (and) conviction to support change,” Bellegarde wrote.