Toronto Star ePaper

AFN delegates back chief

Emergency resolution sought to extend suspension amid investigation

An emergency resolution before the Assembly of First Nations annual meeting to reaffirm the suspension of National Chief RoseAnne Archibald has failed in Vancouver.

Archibald took the stage following Tuesday’s vote and expressed her gratitude for the decision to end what she called an unjust suspension. “I am 100 per cent committed to meeting with the regional chiefs. I need my phone back. I need my emails back. I need to be reinstated fully,” she said.

The resolution said Archibald disclosed confidential information about the complaints against her by the organization’s staff, compromising the integrity of the assembly’s complaint process.

The vote needed the support of 60 per cent of eligible delegates for approval, but the resolution was defeated, with the tally to come later.

Tk’emlups te Secwepemc Chief Rosanne Casimir moved the motion saying there are rules for leaders and the situation has become a national embarrassment.

Thousands of delegates gathered for the annual Assembly of First Nations meeting in Vancouver to talk about the Pope’s visit, Indigenous rights, housing and other priorities, but those issues were upstaged by Archibald’s claims of corruption and infighting.

Dressed in Indigenous regalia, Archibald strode in at the start of the gathering ahead of a group of chanting supporters.

A day earlier, Archibald said she had been “erased” from the agenda after her suspension by the executive committee June 17 while an investigation was underway into complaints against her by her staff.

Instead, Archibald led opening ceremonies, welcomed attendees and spoke to delegates.

“I am your representative. I am your servant. I only exist because all of you put me in this position, so an attack on me is an attack on you,” she said before delegates voted.

Archibald alleges she was suspended for trying to investigate corruption within the assembly and called for a forensic audit of the organization for the last eight years.

The Assembly of First Nations executive released a statement Tuesday urging delegates not to allow the human resource complaints involving Archibald to “overshadow the real and ongoing work that is required on behalf of the First Nations people.”

Archibald has said her suspension was a violation of the assembly’s charter and a means to intimidate, punish and silence her over her claims of the possible misuse of public funds by the assembly.

“Obviously, I’m calling on our friends for an audit and an independent investigation into the AFN and I’m asking chiefs and grassroots people to talk to their chiefs to ensure that a forensic audit happens as well as an independent investigation into the corruption and toxicity at AFN,” she said before she entered the assembly Tuesday.

NEWS

en-ca

2022-07-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-07-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://torontostar.pressreader.com/article/281633898940971

Toronto Star Newspapers Limited