The campaign road stays clean

With only a few months left until the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) holds its election for national chief (voting will take place in Calgary in July) the battle for the top spot is beginning to heat up, with three candidates declaring so far: John Beaucage of Ontario, Perry Bellegarde of Saskatchewan and Shawn Atleo of B.C.
While Atleo was unavailable for comment for this article, Beaucage and Bellegarde are claiming the campaign will remain clean and respectful. All they have in their political arsenal, they say, are big dreams, good intentions and proven track records.
"I want to make a difference," said Bellegarde. "I want to make a positive difference. I want to bring about positive change regarding First Nations issues across Canada."
Beaucage said that after consulting both inside and out of his community with other chiefs, leaders and youth, he was convinced to throw his hat into the ring.
"They would like to see me run for the national chief and that it was time to look at a change within the AFN, and they thought that I would be a good person to bring about that change," said Beaucage.
Change is the political buzzword of late, since Barack Obama sailed on it to an impressive presidential win in the United States in November '08.
However before the winds of change blow out of control, it is still unknown if the current national chief, Phil Fontaine, will seek another term.
Fontaine indicated during the last election that it would be his last; however there have been some fundraising events that have people speculating.
If Fontaine does decide to run for re-election the competition might be stiff, but not harsh. The farthest Beaucage and Bellegarde will venture toward criticism of Fontaine is to claim the need for a different man at the helm.
"The AFN has done some wonderful things for First Nations people in the past. There's been some great work, but what I'm looking at for the future (is) we need to look at things a little bit differently," said Beaucage.
The urban Aboriginal population is growing, he said, and the AFN is no longer relevant to those individuals. He also said the AFN is not relevant to women either.
Bellegarde echoed that position, and said his commitment is to build a united front.
"I've always tried to be a consensus builder. I've always tried to work with leadership, no matter who they are or where they're from. There's diversity across this region. There's diversity across this country, so you have to work with people," said Bellegarde.
In order to do that Bellegarde said that the AFN, under his command, would need to employ an education strategy for everyone to learn the issues.
"We have to ensure that our issues are front and center at all levels of government so the issues can be addressed immediately," said Bellegarde.
"Federal government, provincial government, they all have to be aware of the socio-economic status of our people," said Bellegarde, citing overcrowded houses, inadequate schools, and the two per cent cap on funding as top level issues.
Some believe that Fontaine failed to make those issues part of the debate during the last federal election, however, Beaucage refuses to let the blame fall on Fontaine's shoulders alone.
"I have been a supporter of Chief Fontaine for quite a while and I know that he tries his level best to make sure that things are on the table in terms of our rights," said Beaucage.
He said the failure to engage the public on First Nations issues in the last election had to be shared by the other federal parties.
"I know that in many respects right across the country there were First Nation leaders that were trying to move some of these issues forward and many times they fell on deaf ears," said Beaucage, who added that he has a 10-point plan that would be implemented if he is elected to ensure the issues would move forward.
Beaucage's "A New AFN" plan includes a commitment to youth, eliminating First Nations poverty and restoring First Nations role as stewards of Mother Earth, among other items.
Still, with their political guns loaded with plans for the future, some wonder if the candidates will take aim at each other and fire.
"It was only a few months ago that Perry Bellegarde came to my house and had tea with me on my back deck," said Beaucage, adding that he hopes that the campaign will stay gentlemanly.
"All I can speak to is my education and my experience," said Bellegarde about the campaign he intends to run.
Bellegarde relied on an old political saying when asked of his thoughts on an aggressive campaign.
"If you throw mud, you lose ground," said Bellegarde. "You never do that. Any leader, whether it be a chief of a First Nations community at a community level, or it be a tribal council chief, or a regional chief, or even a national chief. Any person that allows themselves to stand for those positions should be commended because they're doing very difficult jobs."
Beaucage added, in jest, that if he did go down that dirty path, "you can certainly come back and criticize the hell out of me at that time."
"I have a very good track record in doing what I say I'm going to do and that's where I'll continue on right on into the job as national chief," said Beaucage.
The AFN's Annual General Assembly will take place at Calgary's TELUS Convention Centre from July 21 to 23.