RoseAnne Archibald ousted as Assembly of First Nations national chief

Assembly of First Nations chiefs have voted to oust RoseAnne Archibald as national chief, adopting a non-confidence motion to remove the embattled leader Wednesday at a historic, one-day meeting held virtually via Zoom.

The motion needed 60 per cent support from First Nations leaders in attendance to pass. It eventually secured 71 per cent, or 163 of the 231 votes cast. 

The chiefs and proxies in attendance were faced with competing resolutions — one calling for Archibald's removal, the other endorsing her to continue until 2024 — but scrapped the second after the first succeeded.

Chiefs Irene Kells and Kyra Wilson, of Ontario and Manitoba respectively, advanced the motion to topple Archibald. The chiefs who backed removal were heavily critical of Archibald's leadership but met resistance from others who saw the potential impeachment of the first woman national chief as too extreme.

But the overarching mood was one of disappointment, sadness and concern for the AFN's future, with several chiefs calling it upsetting that the issue has drawn on so long — a sentiment that evidently prevailed.

"We are starting to be mocked," said Chief Dylan Whiteduck of Kitigan Zibi in Quebec in a speech to delegates.

"A house divided won't stand," said Chief Don Maracle of Tyendinaga in Ontario, warning the AFN is "going to crumble" if the squabbling continues.

The vote caps more than a year of internal leadership controversy at the federally funded advocacy organization and sends it into uncharted territory.

The troubles escalated in June 2022 when four of Archibald's senior staffers filed misconduct complaints against her. The AFN's then-CEO filed a fifth. The AFN's regional chiefs then launched an external investigation into Archibald's conduct and suspended her. 

The regional chiefs, who make up AFN's executive committee alongside the national chief, also recommended her removal at the July 2022 Vancouver assembly, where Archibald responded by calling the probe a smear campaign designed to distract from her push for a forensic audit.

The chiefs eventually passed a resolution there — rejecting the suspension, ordering the financial review and directing the two sides to come together, to co-operate on the probe and, if needed, hold a special meeting to report back.

Neither the complainants nor the public were permitted to attend Wednesday's meeting. The AFN granted CBC News access under embargo until it concluded.

Things began with a briefing by Ottawa-based employment lawyer Raquel Chisholm, from the firm Emond Harnden, whose summary of the investigation, released last month, found Archibald harassed two complainants and retaliated against all five.