‘She’ll come out of the gate in a gallop’
New AFN chief described as ‘strong advocate’
I THINK THAT ROSEANNE IS GOING TO BE A VERY STRONG NATIONAL CHIEF ... THERE IS A DEFINITE NEED TO PRESS THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT IN A WAY THAT PERHAPS HAS NOT BEEN REFLECTED IN THE LAST NUMBER OF YEARS. — JODY WILSON-RAYBOULD
Roseanne Archibald, the new national chief of the Assembly of First Nations, is the first woman to be elected to the role — and looks likely to present a stronger voice advocating for First Nations issues with the federal government.
Asked how her approach would differ from that of predecessor Perry Bellegarde, Archibald told reporters Friday she takes a dual perspective to dealing with governments.
“I look at the person who is in that position, and I see them as a human being. And I know many people watched as I created a positive relationship between a Conservative government and First Nations in Ontario. And that comes from a place of mutual respect.”
But that won’t stop her from holding governments to account. “You can ask the Ontario government about the many times we have been at loggerheads,” Archibald said.
As national chief, Archibald will lobby the federal government on behalf of more than 900,000 First Nations members. She won the AFN election Thursday evening after two days and five rounds of voting, beating out six other candidates.
Archibald received 205 votes on the fifth ballot, nearly 10 per cent shy of the 60 per cent majority required for a win. The votes are cast by chiefs or their proxies, not individual members of First Nations. She won the election after Muskowekwan
First Nation chief Reginald Bellerose, who received 35.5 per cent of the vote, withdrew from the race before the sixth ballot.
“I think that Roseanne is going to be a very strong national chief in terms of speaking out and advocating on behalf of First Nations across the country,” independent MP and former Liberal cabinet minister Jody Wilson-raybould said. “There is a definite need to press the federal government in a way that perhaps has not been reflected in the last number of years.”
Wilson-raybould described Archibald as a strong advocate, someone who is outspoken, forthright and doesn’t pull any punches.
“I think she’ll come out of the gate in a gallop, which she needs to,” Wilson-raybould added. “There’s a lot of challenges, both internally within the AFN organization and certainly an enormous amount of issues that she’s going to have to work on.”
Archibald being the first woman to serve as AFN national chief marks another first in a career of them. At 23, she became the first woman and youngest chief of Taykwa Tagamou Nation, and in 2018 was the first woman to be elected as Ontario regional chief.
Archibald said her election is a victory for all women, and it’s “absolutely essential that women and girls everywhere can see themselves represented at the Assembly of First Nations in a leadership role.”
But while her gender is important, it’s not the reason she was elected, she added.
“It is the 31 years of experience at every political level that has gotten me here. Women are worthy, women are capable, women are highly skilled.”
In addition to posts as deputy grand chief for Nishnawbe Aski Nation and grand chief for Mushkegowuk
Council — she was also the first woman and youngest individual in both jobs — Archibald ran a consulting business for nine years.
Veldon Coburn, an assistant professor at the University of Ottawa’s Institute of Indigenous Research and Studies, described outgoing chief Bellegarde and his predecessor, Shawn Atleo, as “milquetoast” politicians, who “really didn’t have the sort of firebrand that we had hoped for.
“And then you actually have someone who’s personally charismatic and exciting like Roseanne Archibald, and who has a lot of integrity, too. So that’s a little bit different.”
While Bellegarde avoided conflict with the federal government, Archibald “will come out and be very blunt about things and actually present solutions as well to the problems, so I think that difference will be quite noticeable,” Coburn said.
She’s done that in her previous roles, Coburn said, adding that her experience on chief’s committees that study issues in-depth means she has a deep understanding of critical issues like housing and water infrastructure.
Bellegarde and Atleo led the AFN after the Idle No More movement began in 2012, “which was probably the most explosive Indigenous movement in the last century ... and really they allowed that momentum to fizzle.” Archibald, on the other hand, hasn’t shied away from criticizing organizations, including the AFN, Coburn noted.
Archibald herself has faced criticism in the form of bullying and harassment allegations. An independent report from May looking into those claims for the AFN said seven individuals didn’t file formal complaints because they feared workplace reprisals, according to the CBC. The report didn’t include details about the allegations.
Asked about the allegations Friday, Archibald said she couldn’t comment on a confidential report, but that the allegations were reprisals for her calling for an independent review of harassment and bullying of women and two-spirited, LGBTQQIA+ people at the AFN. She said she was in favour of implementing a whistleblower policy at the organization, and promised to make AFN a “safe, welcoming and healthy space.”
Coburn said it’s “very important” for the AFN to have strong leadership now, given the recent announcements that hundreds of unmarked graves had been discovered at the sites of three former residential schools. That includes the remains of 215 children at a former residential school site in Kamloops, B.C., up to 751 remains near a residential school at Cowessess First Nation in Saskatchewan, and 182 unmarked graves near Cranbrook, B.C.
“The recovery of our children at former residential schools is a priority. There must be truth before reconciliation,” she said. “I will support and advocate for resources for ongoing healing from intergenerational trauma from colonization, particularly residential schools.”
Archibald said her next step will be to review the goals she set out in her platform with leaders including national and regional chiefs, with more detailed work plans to come. She also plans to establish a post-pandemic recovery plan for First Nations, and will be coming out with a 100-day plan.
Archibald said other priorities will be pushing the government to put together an action plan to implement all 94 calls to action put forward by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The implementation of the action plan put forward by the inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls is also a priority.
Systemic racism in the justice system and in the health care system, and climate change crisis, are other priorities that need to addressed, she said.
Archibald promised to “uphold and defend and protect First Nations sovereignty and jurisdiction” through the implementation and recognition of treaty rights in accordance with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
Bill C-15, which says the Canadian government must ensure its laws are consistent with UNDRIP, became law last month.
“The new national chief is going to, I suspect, work with our nations across the country to ensure that bill is not just something that the government can sit back and say we’ve done what we need to do,” Wilson-raybould said.
It will be necessary to press the federal government “to change laws, change policies and change the practices of the federal government in order to create the space for Indigenous nations to rebuild. So I think she’s going to be a strong advocate on that.”
31 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE AT EVERY POLITICAL LEVEL.