Jules resigns as AFN chief of staff

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Just a few months after he was appointed chief of staff of the Assembly of First Nations, Manny Jules resigned.

He was conspicuously absent from the chiefs' meeting on Dec. 9, the opening day of the Confederacy of Nations in Ottawa. It turned out there was very good reason for his absence.

"The First Nation Fiscal and Statistical Management act is good for my community and many others. I will continue to strongly endorse it and support its passage through parliament. I realize my position is in conflict with the stated position of the assembly. I therefore feel it is necessary that I offer my resignation as chief of staff of the AFN effective immediately," Jules wrote in a letter he delivered to the executive during their meeting Dec. 8.

He explained the recent developments to the chiefs on Dec. 10.

"Up until recently I was the chief of staff for National Chief Phil Fontaine," he told the delegates. He said representatives of the Chiefs of Ontario asked what his position was on Bill C-19 [the financial institutions' legislation] after the AFN meeting in Squamish in October.

The chiefs in assembly had directed the national chief and executive to not speak in support of the legislation.Manny Jules had worked for many years to push the legislation forward and the bill's political opponents wanted to be sure that the AFN's chief of staff was not disobeying that directive.

Jules admitted that put him in a tough situation.

"So, when I'm asked if I support Bill C-19, I found I could not do that within the Assembly of First Nations given the direction that was given to the national chief at Squamish. I want to let every one of you know exactly where I stand," he said. "I left the position of chief of staff so that I can carry on my work, which is to advocate national institutions for First Nations, for communities that want to make this change ourselves."

He said he consented to take the AFN job in the first place because it was clear to him that institutions would have to be created in order to carry out the national chief's Getting Results Agenda.

"There was a notion that institutions would have to be built in order for us to do that. After the Squamish meeting it was very clear that the chiefs in assembly, particularly those who've opposed the legislative format right from the beginning, were going to be continually active in that process. So I toughed it out as long as I could and I reached the conclusion that the Assembly of First Nations was not the best place for me to do the kind of work that I feel I've been put in this world to do," said Jules.

Ironically, the job he held before joining Fontaine's staff had just been filled days before he made the decision to resign. He had been the founder and leader of the Indian Taxation Advisory Board. Newly-elected Siksika First Nation (Alberta) Chief Strater Crowfoot had just been appointed to fill that position.

"I'm no longer chair or CEO of ITAB," he said.

Asked what he would do next, he said "I will go back and advocate for C-19. I've dedicated 15 years of my life to see that piece of legislation move forward and I want to see it through to fruition."

His successor as chief of the Kamloops Indian Band, Bonnie Leonard, has announced her intention to run as a federal Liberal candidate in the next election. Jules said he has no such ambitions.

"I'm not looking to government, for a place in the Liberal government to carry on this work. I'm looking to work with the First Nations institutions to see Bill C-19 through," he said.

Jules was asked if he would do that lobbying as a private citizen, as John Q Public.

"There has been an agreement from the institutions that I be their spokesman. So it's a little bit more than John Q," he said.