By Kelly Malone

Bellegarde will face challenges as AFN National Chief

Dec 11, 2014 | 10:56 AM

It’s a job that friends and co-workers said newly elected Assembly of First Nations (AFN) national chief Perry Bellegarde had in his sights from the beginning, but now that he has the top spot it will be a difficult role to navigate.

Bellegarde was elected at the AFN Special Chiefs Assembly in Winnipeg on Wednesday with over 60 per cent of the vote.

“I’ve known Perry, and that goes back years and years and years, he’s always been the politician who has had a goal. That (goal) was to seek the national office,” Mervin Brass, editor and publisher of Treaty 4 News, said.

“From the very first time I saw the man I knew he was destined for big things politically.”

Brass, who was at the meeting, said he knew Bellegarde had won when he saw the room turn electric during the chief’s speech.

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“We’ve all heard Perry speak and the man can move a mountain when he gets revved up and going,” Brass said.

Although Bellegarde was able to motivate a room of chiefs to vote, motivating the First Nations population of Canada to support the AFN may prove more difficult.

“The AFN needs to get in touch with the grassroots people… (Bellegarde) has pledged that he is going to communicate with the grassroots people when it comes to inherent rights and treaty rights and that he will communicate with them through technology,” Brass said.

“He has heard the message from grassroots people, especially the Idle No More crowd, that they want a say in how things are going to be spoken with and negotiated with the federal government.”

Editor and publisher of Eagle Feather News John Lagimodiere explained the national role was the “final bonnet in Perry’s political career” which spanned from a band councillor on Little Black Bear to the chief of the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations (FSIN).

“The guy has been a diehard, working hard politician for the last 20 years that I have known him. It means everything to Perry,” Lagimodiere  said.

“For a guy who is a politician through and through, he’s finally reached the top.”

When it came to what the election would mean for indigenous people across Canada, Lagimodiere was less certain.

“Is he going to be able to push his mandate or the mandate of the chiefs through to the federal government? With this current federal government, I’m not too sure about that because it can be very adversarial ,” Lagimodiere said, adding he will also need to connect with the grassroots.

“There is actually a lot of ‘Internet chiefs’ out there right now that are trying to rule from the netherworld and there is a big disconnect between current leadership and the grassroots people and (the AFN) will certainly have to address that.”

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