AFN prepares to choose a new national chief

After six years as the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Perry Bellegarde is calling it quits. If he ran for a third term, he would be the first national chief to do so.

There are no time limits in the AFN charter, but the convention has been that the national chief resigns after two terms. A term consists of three years.

The Assembly of First Nations is basically a chiefs' lobby organization. Once in a while it may take on a national leadership role in co-ordinating an issue or event, but mostly it represents the First Nations voice on a national level.

The organization has no political power and does not administer any programs. Sometimes it will conduct research on issues, but its main role is supportive to the nation's 600-plus chiefs.

Perry's term in office reads like two separate chapters. The first two years of his tenure were spent in the shadow of the Harper government, which had a less than stellar relationship with the First Nations. The Harper government stonewalled on the issue of an inquiry into missing Indigenous women and girls and refused to sign on to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, even though Indigenous people from around the world had spent more than a decade developing an international consensus. The budget for Indigenous affairs was capped at three per cent per year, in spite of the fact that inflation and the Indigenous population were growing at a far greater rate.

When the government changed hands and the Liberals took over, the AFN and Bellegarde were thrust into the limelight. Prime Minister Trudeau announced that Indigenous relations would be a priority for his government.

There was a lot of work to be done on the national stage. The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls was a priority that had to be completed. The calls to action by the Truth and Reconciliation task force had to be addressed. Much of this work, plus the recommendations of the inquiry, remains on the books and must be addressed by both the federal and provincial governments.

Gradually, the funding cap was rolled back

Bellegarde is a career politician ... He will no doubt emerge on some national board or task force.

and budgets for First Nations increased. Initiatives such as the Indigenous Languages Act and the Child and Family Welfare legislation brought new hope to Indigenous people.

A week ago, Ottawa tabled legislation to recognize the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This was passed through the House of Commons last year, but it was bogged down by a group of Conservative senators and it died on the senate order paper.

When the pandemic struck earlier this year, the AFN put together a task force of First Nations professionals to address the pandemic and provide information and resources to the First Nations community. Now that we are in the second wave, this task force is more important than ever, and because it is composed of our people, they are able to make decisions based on cultural and traditional reality.

Bellegarde is a career politician; that's another way of saying he's a political junkie. He will no doubt emerge on some national board or task force. Saskatchewan has two open senate seats, so that is a possibility. In any event, his long political career is not over.

In July, the chiefs will elect a new national leader and once again a new leader will emerge on the national stage. The AFN has a practice of alternating leaders from the treaty areas and the areas where treaties don't exist, such as British Columbia, or where the treaties are pre-confederation, such as the Maritimes. This is much like the practice of the Liberal Party selecting a leader from Quebec followed by a leader from the rest of Canada. This time I expect we will see a leader from the non-treaty area voted in as national chief.

I also think that in view of the growing group of women leaders, the time has come for the AFN to elect a woman as the national chief.

In any event, life goes on and time passes, making room for a new generation of leaders.