Assembly of First Nations leadership elections

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 633 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 number of 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

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
David Ahenakew 190 55.72
Delbert Riley 67 19.65
Arthur Manuel 48 14.08
Sykes Powderface 26 7.62
Clive Linklater 10 2.93
Total 341 100%

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

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
David Ahenakew 259 83.82
Arthur Manuel 50 16.18
Total 309 100%

1985

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

First ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Georges Erasmus
David Ahenakew
Simon Lucas 69
Graydon Nicholas 44
Ernie Daniels 10
Total 100%

Second ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Georges Erasmus 274 54.26
David Ahenakew 231 45.74
Total 505 100%

1988

Held in Edmonton, Alberta.

Winner: Georges Erasmus

1991

Held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 11, 1991.

First ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ovide Mercredi
Bill Wilson
Phil Fontaine 164
Neil Sterritt 13
Mike Mitchell
Total 100%

1994

Held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on July 6, 1994.

First ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ovide Mercredi 54.0%
Wallace McKay
Mike Mitchell
Delia Opekokew
Konrad Sioui
Total 100%

Third ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ovide Mercredi 60.8%
Wallace McKay
Total 100%

1997

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

First ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Ovide Mercredi 127
Phil Fontaine 126
Wendy Grant-John 123
Joe Dion
Larry Sault
Bob Manuel
Total 100%

Second ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Phil Fontaine
Wendy Grant-John
Ovide Mercredi
Joe Dion
Larry Sault
Total 100%

Third ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Phil Fontaine
Wendy Grant-John
Ovide Mercredi
Total 100%

Fourth ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Phil Fontaine
Wendy Grant-John
Total 100%

2000

Held in Ottawa, Ontario on July 12, 2000.

First ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Matthew Coon Come 244 50.31
Phil Fontaine 202 41.65
Lawrence Martin 26 5.36
Marilyn Buffalo 13 2.68
Total 485 100%

Second ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Matthew Coon Come 287 58
Phil Fontaine 207 42
Total 494 100%

2003

Held in Edmonton, Alberta on July 16, 2003.

First ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Phil Fontaine 292 51.59
Roberta Jamieson 167 29.50
Matthew Coon Come 105 18.55
Rejected ballots 2 0.35
Total 566 100%

Second ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Phil Fontaine 338 60.90
Roberta Jamieson 217 39.09
Total 555 100%

2006

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

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Phil Fontaine 373 76.12
Bill Wilson 117 23.88
Total 490 100%

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.[1]

First ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 238 43.11
Perry Bellegarde 162 29.35
John Beaucage 84 15.21
Terry Nelson 57 10.32
Bill Wilson 11 1.99
Total 552 100%

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.[5]

Second ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 276 50.36
Perry Bellegarde 272 49.64
Total 548 100%

Third ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 266 50.09
Perry Bellegarde 265 49.90
Total 531 100%

Fourth ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Perry Bellegarde 267 50.19
Shawn Atleo 264 49.62
Rejected ballots 1 0.19
Total 532 100%

Fifth ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Perry Bellegarde 254 49.9
Shawn Atleo 254 49.9
Rejected ballots 1 0.2
Total 509 100%

Sixth ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 256 51.4
Perry Bellegarde 242 48.6
Total 498 100%

Seventh ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 259 53.5
Perry Bellegarde 225 46.5
Total 484 100%

Eighth ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 265 58.11
Perry Bellegarde 189 41.45
Rejected ballots 2 0.44
Total 456 100%

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

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 284 52.59
Pamela Palmater 95 17.59
Diane Kelly 39 7.22
Terry Nelson 35 6.48
Ellen Gabriel 33 6.11
Bill Erasmus 29 5.37
Joan Jack 20 3.70
George Stanley 5 0.93
Total 540 100%

Second ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 318 59.44
Pamela Palmater 107 20.00
Bill Erasmus 34 6.36
Diane Kelly 31 5.79
Terry Nelson 25 4.67
Ellen Gabriel 17 3.18
Total 535 100%

Third ballot

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Shawn Atleo 341 66.60
Pamela Palmater 141 27.54
Bill Erasmus 30 5.86
Total 512 100%

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]

Candidate Delegate Support Percentage
Perry Bellegarde 291 62.98
Ghislain Picard 136 29.43
Leon Jourdain 35 7.57
Total 462 100%

References

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