Global Courant
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OTTAWA – RoseAnne Archibald is calling on supporters to tell their leaders and councils to reinstate her after she was voted out as national head of the Assembly of First Nations last week.
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In a five-minute video posted to Facebook, Archibald also urged supporters to ensure that a forensic audit by the national advocacy organization takes place.
“You can call, text or email your boss and council and ask for two things. First, that they reinstate me as national chief and second that they make sure the forensic audit continues,” she said in the video statement recorded in her car in a BC parking lot.
Archibald was voted out as national head last Wednesday after more than a year of turmoil surrounding her leadership.
The vote took place at a special meeting of chiefs convened in part to address the implications of a staff investigation related to complaints filed by AFN employees against Archibald.
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The decision to oust her, just over two years after becoming the first woman to fill this role, was passed with the support of about 70 percent of those who took part in the virtual meeting.
The power struggle at the organization for more than 600 First Nations played out in public last July at a meeting in Vancouver, when Archibald showed up despite being temporarily suspended.
After the chiefs voted down an emergency resolution to confirm her suspension, Archibald expressed her gratitude and claimed she was unfairly suspended for attempting to investigate corruption within the assembly.
In Monday’s video, Archibald repeated those claims, saying she was getting “pushback” because she has been fighting corruption at the AFN since October 2022.
“I don’t want to be reinstated because of my ego. I want to be restored because I have a sacred responsibility that I must fulfill,” Archibald said in the video.
“What the leaders did on June 28 is … they just went ahead and carried out one of the most violent acts against an indigenous, female First Nation leader.”
The AFN has said the top position will remain vacant until an interim national chief is selected from the executive committee, and an election will be held at a special meeting of chiefs in December.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on July 3, 2023.
