They knew it would be a close race, but they weren't prepared for the all-night voting marathon that resulted in the election of Ahousaht First Nation heredity chief Shawn A-in-chut Atleo as national chief of the Assembly of First Nations at Calgary's Telus Convention Centre July 23. But everyone present seemed to sense that something new and good had happened.
Outgoing leader Phil Fontaine had led the country's 633 chiefs to this point, where survivors of the Indian residential schools had begun to receive compensation, Stephen Harper had issued the government's apology in the House of Commons, the Truth & Reconciliation Commission was ready to go to work, and even the Pope had offered words of understanding about the terrible legacy of the schools.
But, good as that was, it was in the air - a sense of expectation that change was about to happen.
The voting began with five candidates: Atleo from the west coast, John Beaucage from Ontario, Petty Bellegarde from Saskatchewan, Bill Wilson from the west coast, and Terrace Nelson from Manitoba. All were worthy candidates, with excellent leadership records within their own regions, but Bill Wilson and Terrance Nelson dropped off after the first round, since neither received the required 15% of votes.
Total number of chiefs voting was 553, and the winner would have to achieve 60% of the votes cast. On the second ballot, John Beaucage dropped out. He said later he saw his support dropping and decided to leave the contest to Atleo and Bellegarde. He suggested his supporters go to Bellegarde, as did Wilson and Nelson, reflecting the fact that these candidates stood for recognition of the historic treaties, while Atleo was known to have been supporting the B.C. treaty process, without consideration for prior treaties.
This concern was no doubt alleviated somewhat when Atleo declared his support for the withdrawal of the B.C. Chiefs from the current negotiations between them and the B.C. provincial government because they weren't sure the terms would provide enough benefit to their people.
The balloting continued throughout the night, with Atleo and Bellegarde running neck and neck, at one point polling 254 votes each, but eventually, lack of sleep drove some chiefs to leave the hall. By early morning, after the seventh ballot, there was quick consultation between Atleo and Bellegarde and their supporters and elders, so that when the eighth ballot showed Atleo had pulled ahead with 53.5% and Bellegarde had 41.45% (two ballots rejected), Atleo was declared the winner, even though the required 60% had not been reached. The elders and those in charge of the election decided that was close enough.
Thus, at 7:45 a.m., Thursday, July 23rd, Shawn Atleo was declared the new National Chief, and with ceremonial blessing, smudging, drumming and song, he took the oath of office and gave his acceptance speech.
Viewed through non-Indigenous eyes, this contest would have seemed to result in a divided AFN community, with ramifications that could slow down the work of the Assembly of First Nations, and some media reporters portrayed the result in that light, but I didn't see it that way at all.
In my next post, I'll talk about that.
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