What's in Store for the New Assembly of First Nations Chief?

Both government and industry leaders in British Columbia should pay attention to this week's Assembly of First Nations election because the new leader could play a key role in the future of resource development in the province, one of B.C's most prominent chiefs has said.

Sto:lo Grand Chief Doug Kelly along with more than 634 First Nations chiefs -- one-third of them from B.C. -- are gathering in Winnipeg this week to elect a new national chief. The election takes place today.

They are meeting to replace Shawn Atleo, who resigned suddenly last May after some chiefs disagreed with how he had negotiated a First Nations education bill with Ottawa.

The new grand chief will have his work cut out for him, Kelly said. "We need a national chief that will advocate on behalf of chiefs and who will serve all the people."

The new AFN chief faces several pressing issues, including the growing list of missing and murdered aboriginal women.

Calls for an inquiry

The chiefs are meeting in Winnipeg, where 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was killed last summer. Earlier this year, an RCMP report showed more than 1,100 aboriginal women have been reported missing or killed since 1980.

Since then, there have been growing calls across Canada for Ottawa to hold a national inquiry into missing and murdered women.

The new chief must also deal with the education bill, which was designed to reform First Nations education and was stalled by Atleo's departure.

Finally, the new leader must deal with the little-noticed revised comprehensive claims process. The policy guides government treaty-making with First Nations, and it affects 53 B.C. First Nations currently negotiating treaties.

However, Kelly said one of the main tasks for the new AFN chief is to bridge relations between First Nations and natural resource producers.

The stakes are high because companies want access to lucrative natural resources, particularly oil and gas fields in areas where First Nations have aboriginal title. Last summer, in a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Canada recognized a First Nation's title in the Tsilhqot'in in B.C.'s central interior. That decision will have implications for future energy projects in the region.

The AFN doesn't hold aboriginal title over any lands. But as resource companies vie for development in areas in which tribes hold title, the assembly can use its staff and resources to influence development through advocacy with that tribe.

"In B.C., [liquefied natural gas], mining and other resource development opportunities rely on understandings with First Nations governments," Kelly said. "The AFN national chief can influence the development of partnerships and how opportunities move forward, so yes they should pay attention."

Resource industry officials are already considering how to deal with First Nations. In statements released after the Supreme Court of Canada's Tsilhqot'in decision, the B.C. Mining Association and Council of Forest Industries acknowledged the importance of consultations and government revenue sharing agreements with First Nations.

Should be 'willing to talk'

Closer to home, industry and government are paying close attention to events on Burnaby Mountain where protestors are opposing drilling work by Kinder Morgan.

According to Sto:lo policy advisor Ernie Crey, environmentalists are getting the attention, but industry is keenly watching the actions of the Musqueam, Tsawwassen and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, all of whom have aboriginal title interests in the land there.

"How important are industry relations with First Nations? Kinder Morgan and Enbridge futures depend heavily on a healthy resource sector so I'm sure they think it is important," Crey said. "If I were in the resource sector I'd be watching the AFN election hoping that whoever wins is someone willing to talk."

At the AFN, the three candidates vying for top spot include interim chief Ghislain Picard, who is the current regional AFN chief of Quebec and Labrador; Perry Bellegarde, chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations and Leon Jourdain, the former Treaty 3 grand chief from northwest Ontario.

The election was spawned by the abrupt resignation last spring of Atleo, a hereditary chief from the Ahousaht First Nation on Vancouver Island's West Coast. Atleo resigned amid internal strife resulting from a stalled aboriginal education initiative and accusations that he was too cozy with Stephen Harper's government.

The AFN is a national political body that advocates for the political interests of its 634 member First Nations. The national chief is the principal advocate for status and treaty aboriginals in Canada. It advocates for issues such as health, education, housing and economic development, among others.

But its biggest challenge will be dealing with a federal government that has a fiduciary responsibility to deal with First Nations but is not sympathetic to them, Kelly said.

Ottawa is slowly starving out aboriginal organizations through funding cuts, Kelly said. The federal government cut core funding for national aboriginal organizations by 10 per cent in 2014.

AFN took cuts to funding

And regional aboriginal groups took a 10 per cent cut to their core funding to a ceiling of $500,000. In addition, the federal government has cut the AFN's funding from $25 million in 2009 to $12 million today. The AFN subsequently reduced its staff level from 120 in 2009 to 60 today.

"I have a hunch that the cuts are going to continue regardless of who makes it into power after the next federal election," Crey said.

"The new AFN man is going to have to carry a big wooden cane and have a no-nonsense demeanour and make government flinch at making cuts."

Stemming the funding cuts and holding Ottawa accountable for its aboriginal policies will require a strategy and commitment that's easier said than done, Kelly said. The organization is riven with divisions between the AFN's regions, treaty and non-treaty tribes and urban and rural groups that need to be mended, he added.

The AFN's pending First Nations education agreement with Ottawa is an example of how the AFN was its own worst enemy, Kelly said. On the education bill, the AFN members gave Atleo instructions to deal with Ottawa. He secured terms of an agreement, but his members then rejected the deal and turned on him, Kelly said.

"We lacked the discipline to work together. Hopefully the election will clear the air so we can," Kelly said.

University of Victoria adjunct professor Judith Sayers has watched AFN elections for more than two decades, and says this one lacks the public profile of previous events.

"Media have only just started covering the elections this week, otherwise it hasn't been on their radar," she said. "There was a real buzz around the last election but now it's just a ho-hum event. Even Facebook and Twitter are quiet," she said.

One reason for the low profile is that ordinary First Nations people have no say in the AFN so they tune them out. Another reason is that there are only three candidates, none of whom are female. "People need to be able to find their own solutions and be supported otherwise they don't feel they're valued," she said. "People have lost their faith in AFN."