Assembly of First Nations leadership elections explained

Assembly of First Nations (National Indian Brotherhood before 1982) leadership elections are held every three years to elect the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations. Each chief of a First Nation in Canada is eligible to cast a vote. Currently there are 634 eligible voters.

AFN rules state that a candidate needs 60% of the votes to win the election. If multiple candidates are on the ballot, the candidate with the fewest votes on each ballot is dropped until one candidate has reached the required percentage of votes. Additionally, any candidate who receives less than 15 per cent of the vote on a ballot is automatically dropped.

If only two candidates remain, however, the candidate with fewer votes is not dropped from the ballot automatically, but rather the race continues to another ballot until the leading candidate reaches 60 per cent or the trailing candidate voluntarily concedes.

1968

Winner: Walter Dieter

1970

Winner: George Manuel

1972

Winner: George Manuel

1974

Winner: George Manuel

1976

Held in Whitehorse, Yukon on September 16, 1976.

Winner: Noel Starblanket (acclaimed)

1978

Winner: Noel Starblanket

1980

Winner: Delbert Riley

1982

Held in Penticton, British Columbia on April 21, 1982.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
David Ahenakew19055.72
Delbert Riley6719.65
Arthur Manuel4814.08
Sykes Powderface267.62
Clive Linklater102.93
Total341100%

For this election the two candidates with the fewest votes on the first ballot were dropped. This applied to Linklater and Powderface. Riley then announced he would withdraw.

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
David Ahenakew25983.82
Arthur Manuel5016.18
Total309100%

1985

Held in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 30, 1985.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Georges Erasmus
David Ahenakew
Simon Lucas69
Graydon Nicholas44
Ernie Daniels10
Total100%

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Georges Erasmus27454.26
David Ahenakew23145.74
Total505100%

1988

Held in Edmonton, Alberta.

Winner: Georges Erasmus

1991

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 11, 1991.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Ovide Mercredi
Bill Wilson
Phil Fontaine164
Neil Sterritt13
Mike Mitchell
Total100%

1994

Held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 6, 1994.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Ovide Mercredi54.0%
Wallace McKay
Mike Kanentakeron Mitchell
Delia Opekokew
Konrad Sioui
Total100%

Third ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Ovide Mercredi60.8%
Wallace McKay
Total100%

1997

Held in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 30, 1997.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Ovide Mercredi127
Phil Fontaine126
Wendy Grant-John123
Joe Dion
Larry Sault
Bob Manuel
Total100%

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Phil Fontaine
Wendy Grant-John
Ovide Mercredi
Joe Dion
Larry Sault
Total100%

Third ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Phil Fontaine
Wendy Grant-John
Ovide Mercredi
Total100%

Fourth ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Phil Fontaine
Wendy Grant-John
Total100%

2000

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on July 12, 2000.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Matthew Coon Come24450.31
Phil Fontaine20241.65
Lawrence Martin265.36
Marilyn Buffalo132.68
Total485100%

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Matthew Coon Come28758
Phil Fontaine20742
Total494100%

2003

Held in Edmonton, Alberta on July 16, 2003.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Phil Fontaine29251.59
Roberta Jamieson16729.50
Matthew Coon Come10518.55
Rejected ballots20.35
Total566100%

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Phil Fontaine33860.90
Roberta Jamieson21739.09
Total555100%

2006

Held in Vancouver, British Columbia on July 12, 2006.

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Phil Fontaine37376.12
Bill Wilson11723.88
Total490100%

2009

The 2009 convention was held in Calgary, Alberta on July 22.[1]

At the close of nominations on June 16, the declared candidates were AFN's British Columbia regional chief Shawn Atleo, Roseau River First Nation chief Terry Nelson, Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations chief Perry Bellegarde, British Columbia land claims negotiator Bill Wilson and former Union of Ontario Indians chief John Beaucage.[2]

Beginning with the second ballot, the convention went into an unprecedented deadlock, with six successive ballots in which the final two candidates effectively tied at roughly 50 per cent of the vote. Under AFN rules, a candidate requires 60 per cent of the vote to win unless their opponent voluntarily concedes the race.[3] Bellegarde conceded after the eighth ballot, on which Atleo had surged ahead to a 58 per cent finish.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo23843.11
Perry Bellegarde16229.35
John Beaucage8415.21
Terry Nelson5710.32
Bill Wilson111.99
Total552100%

Nelson and Wilson were automatically dropped after the first ballot, as both failed to garner 15 per cent of the vote.[4] Both candidates endorsed Bellegarde on the second ballot.[5] Beaucage, as the last-place finisher among the three remaining candidates, voluntarily dropped out shortly after the ballot results were announced, also endorsing Bellegarde.

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo27650.36
Perry Bellegarde27249.64
Total548100%

Third ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo26650.09
Perry Bellegarde26549.90
Total531100%

Fourth ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Perry Bellegarde26750.19
Shawn Atleo26449.62
Rejected ballots10.19
Total532100%

Fifth ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Perry Bellegarde25449.9
Shawn Atleo25449.9
Rejected ballots10.2
Total509100%

Sixth ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo25651.4
Perry Bellegarde24248.6
Total498100%

Seventh ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo25953.5
Perry Bellegarde22546.5
Total484100%

Eighth ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo26558.11
Perry Bellegarde18941.45
Rejected ballots20.44
Total456100%

2012

The 2012 convention was held in Toronto, Ontario on July 18, 2012

At the close of nominations on June 12, the declared candidates were Shawn Atleo, Diane Kelly, Bill Erasmus, Terrance Nelson, Pamela Palmater, Ellen Gabriel, Joan Jack and George Stanley.

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo28452.59
Pamela Palmater9517.59
Diane Kelly397.22
Terry Nelson356.48
Ellen Gabriel336.11
Bill Erasmus295.37
Joan Jack203.70
George Stanley50.93
Total540100%

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
318 59.44
Pamela Palmater10720.00
Bill Erasmus346.36
Diane Kelly315.79
Terry Nelson254.67
Ellen Gabriel173.18
Total535100%

Third ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Shawn Atleo 341 66.60
Pamela Palmater14127.54
Bill Erasmus305.86
Total512100%

2014

The 2014 leadership election took place on December 10.[6] The candidates were Perry Bellegarde, the chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and the runner-up to Atleo in 2009;[7] Ghislain Picard, the AFN's regional chief for Quebec and Labrador and the organization's interim chief since Atleo's resignation;[8] and Leon Jourdain, the former grand chief of the Treaty 3 area in Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario.[9]

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Perry Bellegarde 291 62.98
Ghislain Picard13629.43
Leon Jourdain357.57
Total462100%

2018

The 2018 leadership election took place on July 25, 2018, at the Annual General Assembly in Vancouver, British Columbia.[10] Loretta Pete Lambert, of the Little Pine Cree Nation in Saskatchewan, was the chief electoral officer. The candidates were the incumbent, Perry Bellegarde, from the Little Black Bear First Nation; policy analyst Russell Diabo, a member of the Mohawk Nation at Kahnawake;[11] Grand Chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak Sheila North, a member of the Bunibonibee Cree Nation; economist and former President of the Council of the Haida Nation Miles Richardson; and Katherine Whitecloud, former Manitoba regional chief for the AFN, and member of Wipazoka Wakpa Dakota Nation.[12] [13]

First ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Perry Bellegarde28653.1
Sheila North10619.7
Miles Richardson8716.2
Russell Diabo407.4
Katherine Whitecloud193.5
Total538100.0

Second ballot

CandidateDelegate SupportPercentage
Perry Bellegarde32862.8
Sheila North12523.9
Miles Richardson5911.3
Russell Diabo101.9
Total522100.0

2021

RoseAnne Archibald secured victory on July 8, 2021, after her rival, Reginald Bellerose, conceded. The election had stretched to a second day and went to a fifth round of voting after neither Archibald nor Bellerose received the necessary 60% of votes to win. That remained the case when the Assembly of First Nations announced the fifth-ballot results, but Bellerose announced he was withdrawing from the race before a sixth round of voting could begin.[14]

See also

Notes and References

  1. http://www.canada.com/Atleo+aims+Canada/1660811/story.html "Atleo aims for top job in Canada"
  2. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nova-scotia/story/2009/07/21/first-nations-vote856.html "New leader must press to end aboriginal poverty: Fontaine"
  3. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/afn-race-deadlocked-after-sixth-ballot/article1227561/ "AFN race deadlocked after sixth ballot"
  4. https://calgaryherald.com/Race+First+Nations+chief+narrowed+three/1817217/story.html "Race for First Nations chief narrowed to three"
  5. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/07/22/afn-chief-vote863.html "First Nations chief vote down to 2 candidates"
  6. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/perry-bellegarde-named-new-afn-national-chief-1.2866977 "Perry Bellegarde named new AFN national chief"
  7. http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/perry-bellegarde-to-run-for-assembly-of-first-nations-leadership-1.2784141 "Perry Bellegarde to run for Assembly of First Nations leadership"
  8. http://aptn.ca/news/2014/07/16/quebec-regional-chief-picard-takes-interim-afn-helm/ "Quebec regional Chief Picard takes interim AFN helm"
  9. http://www.winnipegsun.com/2014/11/06/assembly-of-first-nations-candidates-debate-tonight "Assembly of First Nations chief candidates face off in debate"
  10. Tremblay . Paulette . 2018-05-14 . Chief Electoral Announcement . Ottawa . . 2018-07-16.
  11. News: Russell Diabo: 2018 AFN National Chief Candidate. Narine. Shari. July 12, 2018. Windspeaker. July 16, 2018.
  12. News: Katherine Whitecloud: 2018 AFN National Chief Candidate. Narine. Shari. July 9, 2018. Windspeaker. July 16, 2018.
  13. . Assembly of First Nations Election for the Office of National Chief 2018 Candidate Biographies . Assembly of First Nations . 2018-06-20 . 2018-07-16.
  14. Web site: Wright. Teresa. 2021-07-08. RoseAnne Archibald first woman to lead Assembly of First Nations as national chief. 2021-07-09. CTVNews. en.

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