TORONTO - The Assembly of First Nations Executive Committee and National Board of Directors voted to suspend National Chief RoseAnne Archibald, effective immediately.
The decision was made in response to statements made by National Chief Archibald at the Chiefs of Ontario Annual Chiefs Assembly and in public statements she released last week.
“National Chief Archibald has made some very serious allegations about the AFN and its employees and we have yet to see any evidence supporting her claims,” stated Regional Chief Glen Hare. “In her statements over the past few days, National Chief Archibald called our national organization corrupt, and disclosed confidential information about employees. She called for the dissolution of the AFN’s operations, whose 200 employees work hard to fulfill the directions set out by the National Chiefs Assembly.”
Hare continues to state that he has great confidence in the AFN and that if Archibald wishes to continue with her investigation, she should be free to do so to prove that no corruption or collusion is happening within the AFN.
For the time being, the AFN has decided to suspend National Chief Archibald from her obligation as National Chief stating that it “was necessary in order for it to ensure it could fulfill those obligations. The Chiefs of Ontario will continue to support the AFN as it does this work.”
This past Thursday, Archibald released a statement on Twitter addressing a call for an investigation into the corruption by senior staff members in the Assembly of First Nations organization.
Her statement reads, “in my efforts to clean up the corruption with the AFN, I’ve been undermined, discredited, and attacked. This is the second time that I’ve encountered a smear campaign as a result of my relentless pursuit of the truth. Sadly, the AFN secretariat, along with two regional chiefs, are choosing to focus on infighting rather than advocacy for the people we serve.”
The smear campaign to which Archibald is referring is from last year, when she was facing an investigation into allegations of harassment and bullying during her time as Ontario regional chief. The probe, which has been resolved, was due to her vocal allegations that women and LGBTQ2 members of the organization were facing harassment and bullying.
This investigation was during the time Archibald was elected as the first female national chief.
Archibald continues her statement by saying that “the backwards deals, the large payouts to staff, and other documented incidents of corruption and collusion have caused us to lose sight of our shared goal: to fight for the collective rights of more than 900,000 Indigenous peoples living in more than 600 First Nations communities, cities, and towns across Turtle Island.”
On Twitter, Archibald also uploaded a statement by a whistleblower within the AFN which details those in senior positions intending to inform “staff that a vote of no confidence was likely to take place at July’s Annual; General Assembly in July,” and that staff should sign a prewritten resignation letter.
The anonymous staff member also stated that AFN secretariat, particularly the chief executive officer, had an employment lawyer that could negotiate a full payout if the resignation letter was signed.
Furthermore, the whistleblower overheard a conversation about Archibald’s between the CEO and an anonymous staff member that could show signs of collusion. The statement reads, “the subject matter of the call could be seen as collusion in my view, as part of the discussion involved informing CEO of National Chief’s vision for a redesigned AFN that reduces the capacity and authority of CEO in lieu of improved regional authority, a subject that most certainly would not help the colour of CEO’s opinion of National Chief.”
In other words, the CEO didn’t take kindly to talks of their power within the organization being diminished, and the constant bullying tactics within the organization against Nation Chief Archibald reflects what the whistleblower states that more of the “Secretariat staff largely have a negative impression of Nation Chief and our office as a whole.”
On Friday, Archibald took to Twitter once again with a statement which reads, “I am of the opinion that there is a pattern at the AFN of launching false investigations and leaking confidential information, particularly amongst the most senior staff. This happened to me twice as Ontario Regional Chief, including last year at this time as I was campaigning to be National Chief and is reoccurring now as we prepare for the AFN’s Annual General Assembly in July. What is happening is wrong, but it’s not about me; it’s a manufactured distraction from my repeated calls to investigate the past eight years of wrongdoing within the AFN.”
This statement was issued after the regional chief locked Archibald out of her email account in an attempt to silence her calls for a forensic audit and full, impartial investigation into the AFN.
Archibald states, “while the regional chief have the authority to suspend me from the board and as Board Chair, they do not have the authority to remove me as the AFN National Chief, nor can they determine whether I can or cannot attend next month’s AFN Annual General Assembly in Vancouver.”
Despite Archibald’s calls for a forensic audit and full impartial investigation into the AFN, Chief Hare stated that no such resolution has been passed, and that “Resolution 22/27A, passed by the Ontario Chiefs-in-Assembly, supported the continuation of the mandate of the AFN’s Restructuring Committee. That resolution did not call for the creation of a body to oversee the AFN’s Executive Committee.”
